Here are some tips from Jeremy Fennema, Head of the MAWebCenters program:

• Tell your story. This is a great way for businesses to get their blog started. Who are you? Who’s on your team? Why did you choose the industry you’re in? When did you decide to become an entrepreneur? This topic can be separated into a series of entries, too!
• Put the audience in your shoes. Tell readers what a day or a week in your business is like. Take us on a tour of your world!
• Get out into your community. Being active in various community events (like local fundraisers) creates a win/win scenario for everybody involved – it’s a way for businesses to promote themselves while contributing to a worthwhile cause! Use your blog to share that experience with readers. Take pictures; describe the event and tell readers what compelled you to become involved with that particular cause.
• Compare your business to the big fish. Small- and medium-sized companies everywhere almost certainly face larger national competitors. If you operate one of these smaller businesses, what gives you a competitive advantage over the corporate giants? Maybe it’s your understanding of the local culture. Perhaps you partner with other local companies. Regardless of your industry, you can always make a solid case for your business against the others with just a little brainstorming!
• Use your resources! Using the resources available through your web site and with your web professional, you can check your site statistics section to see what your most popular products or pages are, and create a blog post from that information. Or consult your Facebook and Twitter pages to find inspiration from your online community!
• Ask the readers! This is another way to leverage multiple features in your Web solution. Send questions or requests for content ideas via e-newsletter, Twitter feed, Facebook or with a simple post on the home page! Customers will love feeling included and will appreciate knowing that their online voice is heard!Most importantly – get started!
  And once you start blogging, don’t forget to promote the blog posts to increase followers. Post your blog entries on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks where you spend time. It will allow your friends, fans and followers to learn more about you and your expertise in your business. Consistent updates to your blog will also add to your SEO ranking, giving search engines new content – which they love!
  

  If you are a client of AllThatInternet.net and utilize the MA WebCenters solution you know you have all the tools you need to get started with your blog. Integrated Blogger tool, site statistics and social networking widgets make it easy to implement these ideas.

What other ways to you get inspired for blog content?

This week was my week to be the spotlight member and in addition to speaking about my business in a short one minute commercial about a great referral for my business this week, I was able to speak for 10 minutes on any topic I chose.

I decided to tie the two together and covered 10 Minute Presentations as my educational moment and then demonstrated what I covered during the 10 minute.

I made sure I started with a jazzy beginning to get interest, I did something memorable and that would have impact on the audience. I also wanted to highlight something specific – in this case the benefits of working with me and my web solution for the typical local business owner. I ended by talking about the best referrals for me – The Three Ps.

To stand out and be memorable, I decided to interview a client. I asked Beverly White of Measured to Fit if she would be willing to help me by being the interviewee. I was so excited that she agreed! I was even more excited when she showed up! (performance jitters lead to paranoia I think!)

My starter to get everyone’s attention was to have our President, Karinna Kelly, introduce me as the guest host of BNI Today – a networking show. I even held up the “APPLAUSE” sign like a real TV show would do. And then I interviewed Beverly as though I was a talk show host and she was my guest. It was fun and I think I am ready to contact the networks! LOL

Beverly was kind and sincere and her words were highly impactful because they were coming from a client which is so much more powerful than if I had said them myself.

I am so grateful to Beverly for being willing to “play” and provide something so valuable to my business. She and her partner, Gail Williams, are a joy to know and I consider myself really lucky to have them as clients and friends.

Watch the video to hear Beverly’s answer to the following questions:

1. Had you looked at other web site options before settling on MA WebCenters?

2. Why did you choose to work with AllThatInternet.net and MA Web Centers?

3. How effective has it been at helping your business grow?

4. What do you like best about the MA WebCenters web site solution?

5. You recently upgraded to our newest software, free of charge as part of your service. How easy is it to make changes to your site since the upgrade?

6. What features and benefits do you like best about the new upgraded software?

7. What are some other benefits of working with me, beyond the work we have done on your web site?

8. Is there anything else you would like to add about working with AllThatInternet’s MA WebCenters web site solution or working with me?

• Tell your story. This is a great way for businesses to get their blog started. Who are you? Who’s on your team? Why did you choose the industry you’re in? When did you decide to become an entrepreneur? This topic can be separated into a series of entries, too.
• Put the audience in your shoes. Tell readers what a day or a week in your business is like. Take us on a tour of your world.
• Get out into your community. Being active in various community events (like local fundraisers) creates a win/win scenario for everybody involved – it’s a way for businesses to promote themselves while contributing to a worthwhile cause. Use your blog to share that experience with readers. Take pictures; describe the event and tell readers what compelled you to become involved with that particular cause.
• Compare your business to the big fish. Small- and medium-sized companies everywhere almost certainly face larger national competitors. If you operate one of these smaller businesses, what gives you a competitive advantage over the corporate giants? Maybe it’s your understanding of the local culture. Perhaps you partner with other local companies. Regardless of your industry, you can always make a solid case for your business against the others with just a little brainstorming.
• Use your resources! Check your site statistics to see what your most popular products or pages are, and create a blog post from that information. Or consult your Facebook and Twitter pages to find inspiration from your online community. You can also use trade publications as an inspiration to discuss new and innovative ways you are doing business, streamlining, system-izing and innovating.
  
• Ask the readers! This is another way to leverage multiple features in your Web solution. Send questions or requests for content ideas via e-newsletter, Twitter feed, Facebook or with a simple post on the home page! Customers will love feeling included and will appreciate knowing that their online voice is heard!
• Blogging is simple and takes very little time if you come at it with a logical and organized approach. The best way to start is within your current work style. If you like to plan things out well in advance, take some time to do plan and strategize a time line and topic flow. If you are the type of business owner that likes to be inspired, then keep your eyes and ears open for things that interest you and will interest your customers and followers and write about that.

Blogging is an important piece of your online strategy because it lets your customers and future customers get to know you better and gives your site fresh new content regularly, which helps you with search engine results.


What types of topics do you like to read about most in the blogs you follow?


What are your favorite topics to write about when you are writing your blog?


What other ways do you get inspired for new entries?

“Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” Mitchell Kapor

I am using this particular quote: “Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.”   Mitchell Kapor – for the title because I feel that way sometimes. Trying to learn something new, do research on a project or keep up with the industries I spend time working in. I feel overwhelmed sometimes. There is so much information out there. And it’s easy to get swept away by a well-written blog or article but I often stop and wonder where they got their information from.  And then there are the multitude of pages that turn out NOT to be useful information but a sales letter trying to sell me on why their useful information is worth paying for. That has turned into to an art form as clever as the Ad Men.

As a local business owner with an internet presence, keep in mind what your visitors are exposed to on the internet. The average person spends less than 7 second on a site (how many sites can you look at in 13 yours if you are only spending 7 seconds there?). And that’s assuming it loads. In 2009, studies show that they were only willing to wait *2* seconds for a page to load before going to another site. (source)

If you want to create and increase revenue from your internet presence, you want to have dynamic information that is updated frequently. This can be done with changing specials, new testimonials, guest articles, updated news or a blog that the owner or a staff member updates regularly. Blogs are a great place for new and changing content because you can let your customers get to know you better, have guest bloggers on that you interview or repost and cover areas beyond trying to sell the customer your products or services.

Adding a revenue source to your site is also important. Consumers are not just reading, interacting and learning online. They are SHOPPING online.

“Today’s consumers demand a fast, engaging and secure online shopping environment when searching for a product online. We see a direct relationship between online revenues and site performance and therefore, we have to ensure our site performs well and loads fast,” said Michael Cooper, Vice President and General Manager, HomeDepot.com.

You can offer this through affordable e-commerce options that are dynamic, high tech and secure. There are also options offered by top online retailers like Amazon.com and MarketAmerica.com that allow you to earn additional revenue through your site without having to add inventory, shipping or customer service of those products.

Create an oasis for your visitors with rich content, up to date design, quick page loading and ways for them to enhance their lives either through learning, relating, supporting or buying.

Thanks to techcrunchies.com where they have a plethora of statistical information and data available including the source of the studies they are quoting and summarizing.

That was the topic of the latest Webinar by Practical Ecommerce and Yesmail. “Email Marketing Best Practices for Small Business: New Customers, Repeat Sales” offered detailed insight into how leading companies are making e-mail campaigns work for their business.

Yesmail’s Kristin Kleweno hosted the Webinar and was quick to emphasize that larger, well-known companies may have figured out the strategies for effective e-mail marketing, but there’s no reason why small businesses can’t follow their lead!

Here are some tips to help increase positive interaction with customers:

• Target the e-mails. With the solution you provide, your prospects and clients can implement e-mail campaigns targeted to specific contacts. If they know a site visitor or customer is interested in a particular brand or service, they’re able to send e-mails to only those customers. Leading companies use this strategy because shoppers appreciate the customized content.
• Send them consistently. Kleweno encourages businesses to send consistent, regularly-occurring e-mails so that subscribers know when they can expect to find a new message in their inbox! Whether it’s once a month or once a week, consistency is key!
• Encourage Customer Participation. Research shows that consumers choose Web sites which foster a customer/company relationship that encourages inclusion and participation. Many features of the Web solution you offer facilitate that vital customer interaction.
• Top Picks. Another customer-centric strategy Kleweno cited among e-mail marketing Best Practices is to include “Top Picks” in e-newsletters. Even in this economy, many shoppers are more inclined to make an impulse purchase when they see which products or services are popular among other customers.
• Don’t forget to say “thanks”! One of the most important targeted, customized e-mails your prospects and clients can send is an initial “thank you” e-mail to their new opt-in subscribers. According to Kleweno, a thank-you e-mail is the perfect opportunity to offer an exclusive discount as a call to action.

Enjoy! Post comments. I’d love to know your thoughts.

- Trista Polo, Website Development and Business Owner Development

• Consumers are price-sensitive in today’s economy
• Retaining existing customers
• Attracting new customers
• Consumers expect a higher level of customer service

Also, the report found that 89% believe building deeper relationships with their existing customers is the key to success in today’s tough economy.

Our Web solution offers easy-to-use customer relationship management (CRM) tools that empower businesses to attract new customers and help them retain loyal ones! Business Owners can implement e-mail marketing campaigns with e-coupons as loyalty rewards, and they also have an opportunity to market their company on a broader level to reach new customers, too!

Business Owners can also offer that “higher level of customer service” RSR discussed because their Web presence is a storefront that’s open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Plus, there’s a feedback page that allows customers to directly contact their business, and they can even include an FAQ page that answers their customer’s questions before they reach for the phone!

It’s a powerful, all-inclusive tool that will improve customer service and retention while giving their business incredible visibility on the Web.

Enjoy! Post comments. I’d love to know your thoughts.

- Trista Polo, Website Development and Business Owner Development