So my business is on Facebook–is yours?

If you answered “no” then it is time to get rolling and I’ll give you some resources at the end of this post to help you along the way.

If you answered “yes” then it is time to make sure you are tuned up for the best experience for you–and those who do business with you or who are considering doing business with you.

Now I find it funny how so many people are suddenly experts about Facebook.

Unless that person is Mari Smith (author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day)–her or she probably isn’t.

I had to chuckle when one of the pages I visited claimed to be an SEO specialist for social media accounts (places like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).

Their own page failed to include some of the vital things–such a a link to their website that was clickable.

Since I am active on the web and have been on it for a long time (since 1995), I tend to watch things and invest in learning.

Part of my unique perspective comes from the fact that I’ve made pretty much all my mistakes early on–and still do stupid things now and again.

However, I am pretty savvy due to my investment of time and because I’ve attended college classes and paid for online tutoring from some of the best business people on the web.

So, since I’ve been watching a lot of stupid things happen for so long, I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on Facebook mistakes many business people make.

Facebook Mistake:  Open a business account on a profile page.

The problem with this is that it is against Facebook policies and they might shut your account down.

“Facebook profiles are meant to represent a single individual. Organizations of any type are not permitted to maintain an account under the name of their organization. If you create a profile for your business, your account may be disabled …for violating our Terms of Use. If you have questions about how to best leverage your Facebook Page, please check out our Insider’s Guide or FAQ.”

If you have a profile it is simply a matter of adding a page for your business, service or product.

There are a lot more advantages to having this kind of set up but that isn’t for this post.

Facebook Mistake: Add tons of people you don’t know to your profile.

A long time ago I decided to only let family, friends, and select colleagues into my private profile.

My life is public enough and having a small group of peeps together online without the whole world snooping in was appealing.

Some people add anyone and everyone to their profiles but not me–mine is a private profile and I interact with those people.

If you look here, notice that I offer other options to people I don’t know or have not been in contact with for eons.

That page shows a list of links where people can find my public accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Another important aspect of your profile is that you are limited to how many people you allow in–which isn’t the case with public pages.

Facebook Mistake: Fail to include your business information or link on your page.

A lot of businesses don’t know that you can include a link in the sidebar of their Facebook page so people can simply click right over to your website (and you can add an application to move your visitors over to your Facebook page too.)

Please don’t make the mistake of using your Facebook business page as a website–because like anything that is not on your domain–you don’t own it.

Facebook Mistake: Fail to find ways to bring people into your fold outside of Facebook.

It is possible to customize your business page so you can collect email addresses and build your relationship with people off of Facebook.

This is vital for any business owner.

Take a look at my customized Guerrero Ink page or Mari Smith’s active Facebook page to see how attractive they can be.

Facebook Mistake: Forget that social media pages are public.

One of the things that people tend to forget is that social media interactions and sites are public!

Always be professional online because your brand is always out on the web and reflects on you and your business.

Now I’ve only included five mistakes here and I know you could probably share a few more so why not leave a comment now?

To avoid mistakes I recommend the following resources:

• Facebook Marketing An Hour A Day by Mari Smith
• Mari Smith’s Facebook Page
• Mari Smith’s Website
• FacebookMktg on Twitter
• Social Media Examiner

I am back just in time to urge you to join The Challenge which is the new free version of the popular 30 Day Challenge with Ed Dale and his team.

Ed Dale (aka Tubby Nerd) is an internet marketer and chances are that you have already heard about this program or would be interested in it.

This year, instead of asking people to invest 30 days into their efforts to make a go of their blog or internet marketing efforts, Ed Dale and team are going to ask for 7 days at a time.

If you want to learn the latest and greatest info, learn a lot, and make a little money–this is the perfect place to start.

This will be my third year and I highly recommend it.

It has been so great that I am also a member of the paid program that Ed Dale’s buddy Dan Raine runs–called the Immediate Edge (or “The Edge” to those in the know).

The Edge is an amazing paid membership program and so worth the investment.

The trouble is, it is only open for a short time and to a limited amount of people.

I need to review both programs–both are awesome.

Anyway, I want to urge you to invest your time this week (starting July 1, 2010) and participate in The Challenge and if you have some money to invest, join the Immediate Edge this week while it is still open.

In Should Small Business Do It Themselves (Websites & SEO) I talked a bit about why finding the right web design team is critical for success and how you can start with a local website design firm–but that today you have global options available to you and so are not restricted in your choices.

I promised that I would share some resources for other options and will do so in this post but I also wanted to let you know what I do.

For instance, my last blog designer was found when I kept seeing interesting looking blogs and clicked through to see who designed them and the same person kept popping up in my screen.

Eventually I hired her and she has worked on three of my blog templates including the Fawnskin Flyer.

My mastermind group laughed when I told them I was essentially a spy out on the web and that is how I find valuable tools and super online professionals.

By spy, I mean that snoop on everyone in a variety of ways.

I am always looking at code, peaking at the links to website design firms from blogs and websites that I like, reading comments and exploring the blogs of the best commenters, and I also bring a lot of things onto my computer screen via RSS feeds, social media applications, etc.

Now don’t be overwhelmed if you don’t know what any of this means–my point is that if you are surfing the web, pay attention to what you like and take a minute to explore because you can find some real gems that way.

Then there are referrals or cyber introductions that can lead to someone special.

One of my professional writing services projects had an awesome website design firm that I worked with to optimize her site content.

I was impressed and so now we work together–but I met them intially because we had a mutual client.

The client met the web designer chatting in line at a business several years ago and eventually hired the team to construct her website.

So, those are a few other ways you can stumble upon the right person.

However, you can also seek out web designers via social media sites, by searching via keywords, and by contracting them from freelance sites.

Social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook have a lot of business pages with great professionals (and savvy pros are there working the system).

You can also use Twitter Search and conduct a general search or specific search on Facebook.

The business site of choice for many might be LinkedIn because they have professional groups for designers and other freelance professionals.

Take the time to check out their connections, their online website portfolios and their recommendations.

I always encourage you to connect with someone in person prior to hiring them.

Skype is a great online tool to use if the professional is not in your area as it lets you chat–plus ou can also use video conferencing.

As far as the online resources I’ve used (and am part of) eLance, Guru and Rent-A-Coder are a few of the best but there are a variety of options out there just seek out “freelance service-you-seek” or “freelance worksites.”

Once again, I am going to suggest you take your time to find the right connection because a good, long professional relationship is ideal when it comes to all things web.

Do you have a favorite resource or another idea to add? Chime in via the comments!

Above: Small business owners have enough to do without doing everything themselves.

So this week I noticed a prominent social media expert launching a do-it-yourself tutorial program on how to start and manage a blog/website.

Should small business do website construction or search engine optimization on their own?

No, bad idea.

There are already some good programs out there that teach how to do it yourself but I have to wonder why this social media expert is going out of her normal area of expertise to teach people something that really should be left to those who have the time to waste fool around.

If you are a small business owner it is not a good idea for you to try and do-it-yourself when it comes to web stuff.

Why? Because there is too much specialty expertise needed to do it right.

This program is not the only type taking advantage of the opportunity to serve those in need.

Intuit and other folks are trying to capitalize on the lack of knowledge most people suffer from when it comes to constructing websites and optimizing them.

Now who could blame businesses from expanding their brands or offering solutions to problems suffered by the masses?

Not me–but I d have to say the problem is that the temporary fix often ends up costing a small business in the long run.

It costs you traffic, it costs your money, and you lose time in getting where you need to go.

Sure, it is tempting. I’ve been right there with you and even used a popular web hosting service that also offered templates.

Templates that were a nightmare.

They restricted what I could do.

They failed to allow me to make optimization changes (or even to optimize) plus I was vulnerable in a lot of other ways.

With as much as every business owner has to do in a day, the last thing you need is to fiddle with a website and getting it up and running.

And don’t even think about having your staff do it.

They don’t have the knowledge either.

Plus, I believe your staff is better used in customer service efforts and actual tasks that reap benefits if you have a brick-and-mortar establishment.

Shortcuts that cost you time and delay success are not worth it.

So, how can you find good help? How do you sort through the mess?

I am working on the Small Business Guide to Websites & SEO which will help you but you can start by doing a search and looking–without contracting anyone–yet.

Do a local search, “web design your town” and take a look at the web designers in your local region.

Look at their portfolio but also call those businesses and ask how their websites are working for them.

• Are they happy with the response time from their web designer?
• Do they get people calling from their website?
• Is it easy to manage?

Then take a look and see where those sites come up in the search engines.

Try searching, “business type + your town” and see where they rank.

You can also sneak a peak at the code by clicking the “View” in your browser and then by clicking “page source.”

You’ll see who designed the site usually and also some of the keywords.

Check to see if the site ranks for those keywords. Search “keyword” and see.

Top ranking gets over 40% of all traffic so it does matter.

These are a few simple ideas to help you see if your local designer might be able to help you.

Research for a week or so and then call for quotes. Call those people whose site design you like.

Keep a list of your favorite sites by URL.

Notice the colors you like, if there are trends in the layout, or if the work is by one designer.

Most sites will have a link to the designer at the bottom of the page.

Don’t be confused that you have to use a local person either–they are not always the best and on the Internet there are no geographic boundaries.

There are other sources for you to find a designer and I’ll talk about those next.

]]> http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/06/07/should-small-businesses-do-it-themselves-websites-seo/feed/ 1 http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/05/25/why-your-small-business-should-be-on-linkedin-video/ http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/05/25/why-your-small-business-should-be-on-linkedin-video/#comments Tue, 25 May 2010 13:15:54 +0000 Professional Writing Services http://www.guerreroink.com/?p=83

While there are many different social media options available to people, the big three on my list are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a business oriented social media platform and if you don’t have a profile that highlights your talents or small business you should invest some time in making that happen.

Of course, like all things web, get professional help to set it up so that it is done right!

Above: Do you make your web designer do this?

So, I have a question to ask all of you small business owners–do you want a website that works or looks pretty?

That is the bottom line for today’s rant about how small businesses muck up their online presence.

I’ve just have to ask, if you hire a professional to do your web design, get a professional to do search engine optimization work, and rely on them to get the job done–why do you muck it up?

What I mean is, how much do you know about websites, search engine optimization, and web design?

The web changes so fast that you can’t possibly know anything about it unless you’ve studied the topic extensively–and then that is worth nothing if you have not applied it.

In today’s state-of-the-industry, things change daily.

Take the Facebook changes, for example. They make your head spin.

Anyway, I had to laugh when I talked to a friend this am who told me she finally understood how much she got in her own way when it came to the web.

Her story was a great analogy:

I now just think of the web as a great big ocean and my website is a very small boat in the middle of the ocean.

Nobody is going to find it without any help.

If I make my way into the harbor of search engines, at least I can be found.

But the dock has to be in the right location, the right size, and easy for people to get to.

The boat has to be stocked with supplies delivered in a timely manner, preferably all at once, prior to departure…and for the web that is content, images, etc.

If they want to get my boat out, guests need it to be easy–not a complicated process.

Plus, if I hire a Captain and crew (web design team) I can give them my ideal destination but I won’t navigate myself or dictate how they do their job to get me there.

I bring this up because I just finished working on a very large project.

Because I like to do a lot more than is expected, I added anchor links and email links–despite the fact that I hate having emails displayed for the spam bots to pick up.

HOURS of detailed research went in to identifying the right terms for the client and optimizing every little thing on the site.

The result?

They want to change things.

First, I want to say that I had to create a whole lot out of nothing–they had no content to speak of and the content they had wasn’t very good.

Also, when something is optimized–it is not just a simple change–it is a lot of work because it is analyzed from top to bottom and every element on the page serves a specific function to get the ranking for SEO. Changing it takes a long time, not just a quick minute or two.

They were not ranking for the terms they wanted because they were going too broad–loads of traffic doesn’t do you any good unless it brings your target audience and buyers to your site.

Plus, if you are a little fish in a sea of other, more attractive fish, you don’t end up very high in the search engine rankings.

Because they have no idea about how the web works they want to dictate how it should be done.

Okay, fine. They are the client–but then why bothering doing the SEO?

A website is not like print media or advertising--quite the contrary.

It is a three dimensional creation that will work in a variety of ways to get the right traffic to the right page.

Visitors don’t arrive on your main page–they often will land on the optimized page for a service or product you are selling because that is what they are looking for.

That is good!

Also, the words or phrases you think work–don’t usually work on the web.

How do we know this?

We spend hours researching about just what people are searching on so you get that traffic and the right people.

Just because X phrase sounds good to you, if it has zero traffic–it is worthless.

Also, if it has 5,000,000,000 or more results–you are likely not going to rank for the term with so much competition.

Uh, yeah–we look at all of that to pick the right terms and phrases to help you.

So, my message today?

You are investing a lot of money into your online presence, so let your web team help you!

Yes, yes, it can look pretty but it has to work…and unless you get out of your own way, it won’t.

]]> http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/05/19/small-business-website-do-you-want-it-too-look-pretty-or-do-you-want-it-to-work/feed/ 0 http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/05/10/the-referral-engine-book-by-john-jantsch-review/ http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/05/10/the-referral-engine-book-by-john-jantsch-review/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 07:15:11 +0000 Professional Writing Services http://www.guerreroink.com/?p=82 The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself was written by John Jantsch who is also the author of Duct Tape Marketing.

Every small business owner, consultant, sale person, or online business should have this new book in their library.

The Referral Engine is an easily read book (233 pages) with a great summary at the end called, Workshop which is a convenient list of those strategies discussed throughout the book in a short, easily reviewed format.

The work itself starts off with a not-so-startling statement,

Despite what some might suggest, there are no real secrets in business–only truths you haven’t yet figured out how to apply.

That statement made me laugh because it is so simple and so true!

Before I get into my gushing over this book, here is what you’ll find:

The Realities of Referral
This chapter gets into defining referrals, why people give them, what motivates them to do so while giving you a foundation to understanding them. The formula I enjoyed seeing outlined? Innovation + Action = Growth

The Qualities of Referral
This had some great gems and I couldn’t help but reflect when a local business began hiring teens to handle their clientele—and sadly within a year she was out of business. Jantsch talks about the link between customers and your staff and how hiring the right people, giving them the right training, and other components play key roles in getting better quality referrals and leveraging them. The take away from this section? Give to Get.

The Path to Referral
Now Jantsch gets into strategic and tactical applications with the Four Cs of Marketing: Content, Context, Connection, and Community. Basically there are two groups—the traditional and the tech savvy. However learning how to combine these for optimal results while targeting specific groups ( prospects, customers, providers, staff, partners) is a great suggestion. The take away in this chapter is the customer life cycle: Know, Like, Trust, Try, Buy, Repeat, Refer.

The Referral System View
Lately there has been a lot of talk about transparency (or authenticity) and this chapter ties it in to innovation, core differences (such as a unique sales position) and leveraging your networks. Discussed are referral entry points and how to use them effectively.

Your Authentic Strategy
Referral brand elements are included in this section and defining and visualizing aspects of the business and customer is only one piece of the puzzle. Defining how things work in your world is referred to as the “secret sauce” aka “This is how we do it here” (or TIHWDIH) but I enjoyed how it presented the strategic action plan which is valuable for any small business owner.

Content as Marketing Driver
Leveraging content, speaking opportunities, using advertising and public relations are a few of the tips in this chapter but the examples of how they can be applied can help any small business spark additional ideas. The testimonial gathering party idea was unique but there are also many good resources in this section (and in all sections of the book).

Convergence Strategies
I’ve heard the term, “hub and spoke” before but using it both online and offline is an action that helps visitors, customers, and prospects. Power tools, blogging, podcasts, videos, and elunch ideas are introduced here. Again, some great tools are resources are listed to help you get started. One of the things I recently started in 2010 was a schedule of tasks for each week and month so I was glad to see John’s example and glimpse into what his efforts look like…and you get some suggestions as to how to create your own action plan.

Your Customer Network
Do you know your number for referrals? This is the number of people (friends, neighbors, and colleagues) referred to your business by clients. Basically, if you are not getting lots of referrals this chapter can help you determine why and help you fine tune that process. Again, the chapter ends with a customer network action plan that can help you outline the process or implement one.

The Strategic Partner Network
Businesses that have a common customer base make up part of your Strategic Partner Network and this chapter discusses how to identify, build, and activate this referral network which is one I think a lot of people overlook.

Ready to Receive
This chapter gets into the how and what that is involved in revving up your referral machine and includes resources and tips on how to get it (and keep it) going.

Referral Specific Campaigns
This is a fun collection of real life examples of the referral cycle and what happens when you set up and start up the referral machine.

Snack Sized Suggestions
This will make niche specific businesses jump for joy since examples from specific businesses are shared in short paragraph form.

Workshop
A nice summary of the entire book can be found in this chapter and makes it an easy reference point for those who might not like taking notes in the book.

John Jantsch spent a lot of time pondering this topic and put pen to paper to produce a book that should end up being a well worn, well marked up resource for anyone in business or sales.

Although he is well known on the web for being an award winning social media publisher, this book can be a vital tool for both online and brick and mortar businesses.

It would be best put to use if it was kept open on their counter (or desk) during the day to read, review, and to remind you of some important business concepts that many overlook or forget. (Hey John–now you need to produce one of those flip over perpetual desk calendars–just give me a credit blurb for the idea. LOL)

One of the great things within this book is that all the resources and sites of those businesses that are included in the book are also right on The Referral Engine book’s website.

This provides a great resource online and also a clever strategy for generating referrals—and for creating goodwill. (I hope the businesses listed will track the referrals coming from that website.)

The powerful piece of work can be used as a lifetime reference addition in any small business library–because although the world may change, certain principles remain the same and those principles are outlined well within The Referral Engine.

What I liked about it (and what I think you will too) is that it is engaging and filled with interesting stories, case studies and examples.

Again, it is in a simple format so that you can implement and remember what was presented easily so don’t be surprised if you power through it in a day.

However, I would recommend that you use sticky notes, a highlighter, and be sure to write notes in the margins so you can take full advantage of the contents so you can adapt them for personal use.

In my experience, I find people always miss the point by focusing too much on the niche specific information.

Marketing and referral strategies work the same way across industries and business types but what John Jantsch does well is to address this “niche mindset” by using examples from a wide variety of retail shops, service businesses, and from other professionals, consultants and sales teams.

I think this work would be of vast value to the small businesses here in the mountain region because most fail to collect any customer data or fail to follow up with customers to bring them back or to reach out to ask for more support or for referrals.

Right now we are in one of the “dead zones” of the year and many of the small business owners are crying but doing nothing to change this process—and it has been that way for the twenty-something years that I’ve been associated with the community.

The Referral Engine would be a great book to read now so that some of the suggestions and strategies within the book could be implemented before the next “dead zone” in the fall.

John Jantsch did an amazing job of presenting concepts clearly and in an easy to digest format so I highly recommend that you add The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself to your library–and while you are at it, consider adding Duct Tape Marketing to your cart as well.

BTW Most of my SEO specialist work is moving to working exclusively with web designers for their small business clients which is where a lot of my rants are coming from.

What I’ve noticed is that some of the big issues facing those I work with, and that keeps rearing its head, are the multitude of questions that come in from clients.

These questions usually have nothing to with the work being provided to the client.

However, when you are the go-to person it is usually a good idea to help out–the problem is that these questions take a lot of time and don’t usually pay your bills or earn income.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the job of the web team is to help a client with specific work not to tutor or instruct them–unless of course you offer classes.

This makes me want to ask, “Do you have specific tasks and services clearly outlined for your clients?”

If not, perhaps you need to make that a priority.

Helping clients (aka exceptional customer service) earns good will and referrals…but one of the reasons I am working on the Small Business Guide to Websites & SEO is to take away some of that burden because it is bogging down web professionals all around the web.

Hence, they are not answering their phones and then the client complains to people like me.

Anyway, I had to laugh since one of the mutual clients I share with a very adept web designer emailed me asking me to teach her about Twitter.

Eesh–someone told her it was a good idea.

Is it?

Yes and No.

Yes, because all businesses or organizations should be on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

They can find you, interact with you and you can better connect with them if. you. use. it. right.

Big Bear businesses and the surrounding rural towns fail on this one big time–the exception being those Realtors who are working overtime.

But we already set this client up and she is good to go–even optimized for it.

However, no is the other answer because in the Twitterverse  a business needs quality versus quantity to attract the right people to it and to maintain good relationships with those people.

However, someone misled our small business buddy  into believing that she needs a lot of followers to help her out.

Which is the wrong reason to add people.

Most people would not do that in their non-virtual life–why would you in cyberspace?

Yes, yes, some markets (like social media marketing) do go crazy with numbers. BUT that is their business and what they do!

Quite frankly I am amazed at those who actually manage their business with thousands of followers.

The best way for a small business to grow on Twitter is to

• add people you know and
• have them invite their friends.

You should invite your email list to join you–and if you don’t have an email list–I’ll be touching on that too.

Since I am on this topic, be sure to join Guerrero Ink over on Facebook for more tips and hints.

Don’t believe me?

Have a listen to Internet Marketing Guru Guy Ed Dale:

Okay, not convinced?

For those of you who still want to proceed and build up a following:

How to Get More Twitter Followers from WikiHow
How to embed a Tweet

Is your business involved in social media?

It should be.

When I ran two writers groups I was always amazed at how many people did not use technology to help themselves become authors–it is no longer an optional tool, it is a vital tool.