Archive for the ‘Entrepreneur & Small Business’ Category

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New Designs for Affordable Websites from flyte

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Starting at just under $2K, our ProSites have always been a good choice for startups or companies that want to take some of their “Interweb funds” and put it towards some search engine optimization, blogging or email marketing.

This past week we introduced three new designs, Textures, Bright Lights and World Travel, as well as retiring some of our older designs.

Besides the great price point, all of these ProSites are built on WordPress, a simple-to-use content management system (CMS). That means you can add, edit, and delete content, pages, upload images, and embed videos to your heart’s content (or to your business’s needs.)

These sites have been built to be flexible enough to fit almost any kind of business, and you can change the navigation to fit your offerings, whether they’re services or products. They work great for non-profits, too.

But wait, there’s more!

Through the month of February (that’s 2010), we’re going to include a free blog with every ProSite. For search engine optimization, establishing your credibility, and as the hub of your social media activity, there’s no better tool than a business blog, and with the new ProSites, they’re integrated into your website. They’re the perfect compliment to an effective Web presence.

Be sure to check out the ProSites at our Web site, or just reach out now and contact flyte today.

Rich Brooks
Affordable Websites for Small Business

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Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Web Design & Development, Web Site Launches, flyte news | No Comments »

SEO and Social Media Consults Giveaways

Monday, January 25th, 2010

This is the last week to enter for two of flyte new media’s Web marketing giveaways:

Search Engine Optimization:

Would you like your site to rank higher at the search engines? Do you wish you could attract more qualified leads to your Web site? Do you wonder why your competition beats you at Google?

If so, register for our Search Engine Optimization Consultation, that includes two one-hour consultations, a review of your site and recommendations, and a mini-keyword analysis from Nicki Hicks, our search engine marketer.

Web Marketing / Social Media:

Are you struggling to understand Facebook? How Twitter can help grow your business? How YouTube can attract qualified leads to your Web site? Whether a blog will increase your search engine visibility or eat up your last remaining free time?

If so, register for our Web Marketing / Social Media Consultation, with your man about town, Rich Brooks. We’ll talk about social networking sites, blogs, video and anything else you need to drive more qualified leads to your Web site and grow your business.

Both contests wrap up on Sunday, 1/31/2010, so be sure to take advantage of this offer if you’re looking to build your business in 2010.

Rich Brooks
Web Marketing for Small Business

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Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Web Marketing, flyte news | 3 Comments »

Social Media Marketing That Works: Webinar – 1/14/2010

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Save $20 w/discount code "brownie"

Save $20 w/discount code "brownie"

Are you ready to move beyond the hype of social media marketing? Are you ready to reach and engage a new audience for your business or non-profit? Are you ready to measure your results so you can determine whether your time on Twitter, on Facebook or on YouTube is paying off for you?

If so, pull up a chair this Thursday for the Social Media Marketing That Works webinar.

In this webinar we’ll talk about:

  • how to develop an effective social media strategy around your business goals,
  • how to find and engage your audience,
  • how to manage your time in social media,
  • how to measure your results, and more.

There will be 30 minutes at the end for Q&A. All attendees will also receive the slides and the audio recording of the webinar so you can listen again (or in case you want to attend but can’t make it.

Date: Thursday, 1/14/2010

Time: 1pm – 2:30 ET

Cost: $50 Save $20 with discount code “brownie“…now isn’t that sweet?

Space is limited, so register now.

Rich Brooks
Social Media Strategies for Small Business

Photo credit: norwichnuts

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Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, Social Media | 9 Comments »

Web Marketing Six-Pack: Get 6 Months of Webinars for 50% Off

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

6-packWe just posted our editorial calendar of Webinars for the first half of 2010; everything from SEO to Social Media to Google Analytics and beyond.

As I was looking at the fresh list last night, I realized that although any one of them is powerful, taken as a group they offer a huge competitive advantage. So here’s what I did:

We’re now offering all six Webinars for 1/2 off. This includes:

Together those Webinars list at $300, but for right now we’re offering them for $150.

But wait, you say. I can’t make all of those dates!

Not to worry. Everyone who signs up for the Webinar Six-Pack will receive the audio and slides from each presentation which you can listen to…forever! And at your leisure!

This is, as they say, a limited time offer. And remember: a six-pack of Webinars makes the perfect stocking stuffer.

Get your Web Marketing Six-Pack Now!

Before they’re all gone…

Rich Brooks
Using the Interwebs to Talk About the Interwebs

Photo credit: bbaunach

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Posted in Analytics, Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Email Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Web Marketing, flyte news | No Comments »

How NOT to Leave a Comment on a Blog

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Some things to keep in mind:

  • Incoming links (links from other Web sites to yours) have search engine benefits.
  • You can create links from someone else’s blog to your site by leaving a comment.
  • People respond to incentives.

Thus, it’s no surprise that unscrupulous marketers (and even some with scruples) leave a lot of comments on other blogs for the sole purpose of increasing the search engine visibility of their own site or blog.

Never mind that almost every blog in the world uses a no-follow ref tag in the comments section, basically neutering the SEO benefits of a comment.

That being said, not everyone seems to have gotten the memo. There’s still benefits to leaving a comment, however:

  • Adding to the conversation the blogger started
  • Getting the attention of the blogger and perhaps beginning a mutually-beneficial relationship
  • Having people admire how intelligent, insightful and on message  your comment is, and possibly following the link back to your Web site or blog.

That last bullet point needs to be repeated, this time with some emphasis:

  • Having people admire how intelligent, insightful and on message  your comment is, and possibly following the link back to your Web site or blog.

And that’s the trick. You need to be intelligent, insightful and on message. Although every blogger has his or her own rules for when to leave a comment up there, I’ve always been open to destroying a comment with extreme prejudice if they seemed more interested in promoting their own work than continuing the conversation I started.

For example, I recently received this comment on a post on How to Add Photos and Videos to Your Tweets:

How Not to Leave a Comment

Besides the atrocious grammar, it’s hard to take someone serious who:

  1. Recommends a product which also appears to be his URL
  2. Has a generic sounding gmail address
  3. Was named “Mass Email” by his parents

Not to mention it has nothing to do with the post at hand. If this were a post on email marketing, or bulk email marketing tools, this would be perfectly appropriate.

If you are going to leave comments on other blogs, please add something of value. It helps the blogger, his/her audience, and may actually do some good for you as well.

Rich Brooks
Small Business Blogger

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Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Business Philosophy, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Web Marketing | 8 Comments »

Calling on Prospects: How Much is Too Much?

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Sales calls & RolaidsThe other day as I left yet another voicemail for a prospect who hadn’t returned my previous few calls or emails, I wondered how many unreturned “touches” most people leave before giving up, so I quickly tweeted my question.

I was surprised that the answers that came back were almost invariably one or two, although Marty Hamre’s magic number was 7 and VirtualGalt invoked Brian Tracy’s name in suggesting that 5 was the right answer. It was actually listening to Brian Tracy sales tapes back in my previous life that convinced me to make more attempts than the competition.

Intrigued, I asked “What’s the max number of unreturned calls/emails/touches you would give a prospect before giving up?” on LinkedIn. There were 24 answers (and counting) to the question, and the people on LinkedIn (or at least those who answered the question) seemed to have a lot more tenacity than my tweeps.

Some of my favorite quotes…

(more…)

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Posted in Business Philosophy, Entrepreneur & Small Business | 4 Comments »

LinkedIn for Business: Using LinkedIn Answers

Monday, November 30th, 2009

LinkedInAlthough LinkedIn is the social media site for businesses and professionals, a lot of people still struggle with how to use LinkedIn to build their business.

One powerful area of LinkedIn is Answers. Within Answers you can find questions from other business people, either in your extended network or by drilling down into categories such as Business Travel, Product Management, and Sustainability. You can even subscribe (via RSS) to your favorite categories to get regular updates of new questions.

By answering questions you can connect with prospects, establish your expertise and build your business. To help you out, I’ve created this video, How to Build Your Business with LinkedIn Answers.

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn at my new public profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/therichbrooks.

Rich Brooks
Are We LinkedIn?

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Posted in Business Philosophy, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Social Media | 3 Comments »

Book Review: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

I’ve often said that the best book on social media marketing is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Although Carnegie never updated his Facebook status, tweeted or even commented on someone else’s blog, the lessons one can learn from that book can be used to win Facebook friends and Influence people on the social webs.

Trust-agents Well, now that book has some real competition. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith is a must read for anyone looking to understand how businesses and non-profits can use the Web and social media.

This book is not about how to get more followers on Twitter, or to get the most connections on LinkedIn. Rather, it’s about understanding how the Web–and specifically social media–is changing the rules of engagement and networking.

The book takes a step-by-step, chapter-by-chapter approach of how to become a trusted member of this new society, and how to leverage that power. (But always for good; the book does address the possibly slippery slope of questionable activity, or taking advantage of one’s community. However, no doubt that some people will put the lessons learned towards hacking the trust equation.)

There’s a lot of great examples in the book, both from Chris & Julien’s lives, as well as Gary Vaynerchuk and dozens of others who have learned the lessons in this book firsthand. I found myself folding down a lot of the page corners, and recommending the book to several friends and clients.

The book was also good at reinforcing what I already believed to be true, just with more concrete examples. Chris and Julien say a lot of the same things I say–except when they say it, it comes across as much more intelligent and insightful–I’ll have to work on that.

You won’t find get rich quick ideas here, and there’s no promises of
untold riches. If you’re looking for how to set up a Facebook fan page
or create a custom background for YouTube, better to Google it than
read this book. But when you’re ready to think about strategy and how
this fits in with the bigger picture of your business, your career,
your causes, this book will help you get there.

Rich Brooks
Getting There

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Posted in Business Philosophy, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Social Media | 4 Comments »

How Does Web Marketing Help Your Business?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

At flyte we have a model called Holistic Web Marketing; it’s a way of explaining how Web marketing helps improve your online visibility, drive qualified leads to your Web site, and convert that traffic into business. There are four pieces:

  • Attraction: How do you drive qualified traffic to your site?
  • Retention: How do you keep the lines of communication open after they leave your site?
  • Conversion: How do you get them to make a buying decision or move further down the sales cycle?
  • Measurement: How do measure your site’s effectiveness and whether your Web campaigns are working?

We recently created a cheat sheet around Holistic Web Marketing that you might find helpful. You can download What Is Holistic Web Marketing? here.

Holistic-web-marketing-big

Rich Brooks
 Web Marketing for Small Business

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Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Email Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Web Design & Development, Web Marketing, flyte news | 1 Comment »

How to Build a Business Blog That Generates Leads

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Today's issue of flyte log–our email newsletter on everything Web marketing related–is all about turning your blog into a lead generation machine.

How to Build a Business Blog That Generates Incoming Leads is a crystallization of a number of thoughts, a session at BlogWorld by Chris Baggott, a review of my analytics, and a recent post called Questioning 6 Blogging "Truths."

The new article revamps some of the points in 6 Truths, mixes in some new ideas, and tries to deliver some actionable items that any small business or non-profit can use to drive more traffic to their blog and convert those visitors into qualified leads.

If you've been considering starting a blog, or have been wondering how to improve the performance of your own blog, be sure to check out How to Build a Business Blog That Generates Incoming Leads.

Rich Brooks
Small Business Blogger

Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Entrepreneur & Small Business | 1 Comment »

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