Thursday, February 22, 2007

Simple and Easy - Business Networking Tips!

Business Networking in your everyday life, it is simple, a must and very important! Recently, I attended an art exhibit for one of my good friends in Los Angeles, California...

As I walked into the reception area and noticed several people of all ages mingling looking at his art, talking, sipping wine and eating cheese.

I saw a perfect networking opportunity all around me...

The first thing I noticed were people saying hello, introducing themselves to each other and the first question was "so what do you do for work"?

Is that not the perfect question? Now that opens the door for you to make that connection about what you do and who you are!

Within one minute you can accomplished these 3 things:

1. Make a connection with that person (introduction).
2. Hand out a business card.
3. Deliver a 30 second Elevator Speech about your business.

If you think about this, every place you go can become a great networking opportunity and you can have fun while doing it!

You never want to miss a chance to be able to meet new people and get the word out about yourself and your business, you just never know who you might meet, and who you are handing your card to!

Good Luck!

Monday, February 19, 2007

Three 5 Star Marketing Book Recommendations...

I Recommend you checkout ALL 3 of these 5 STAR Marketing books, they are terrific resources for EVERY business...

1. Hot Button Marketing: Push the Emotional Buttons That Get People to Buy
Book Description...
Consumers buy products for two reasons-the rational reason and the real reason. While your customer may say they want your product because of its features and benefits, their decision to buy is based on emotion-not intellect.
Hot Button Marketing shows you how to identify and push the hot buttons that will prompt consumers to purchase your product over a competitor's-even if it's a parity product! Filled with tips and insights that can be applied at every stage of marketing-from product development to one-to-one selling-Hot Button Marketing shows you how to hit the sixteen hot buttons and get your product sold.

2. Stand Out from the Crowd: Secrets to Crafting a Winning Company Identity
Book Description...
A company’s identity is far more than just letterhead, logo and business cards. It requires an end-to-end communications approach with verbal, written, and visual messages that target the customers you want to reach, ensure consistency in all marketing materials, and keep your identity program on track.

3. Think Two Products Ahead: Secrets the Big Advertising Agencies Don't Want You to Know and How to Use Them for Bigger Profits
Book Description...

This common sense guide lets you develop your brand with the same techniques and technologies as the big players—but without all the cost. You’ll learn to master the same three-step plan the big advertisers use and discover the secret to brand continuity from product to product. This valuable resource will help you connect your products with your customers, no matter how small your brand.

Check them out and let me know what you think!

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Web Page Meta Tag Tips...

Having a Search Engine Friendly Title Meta Tag specific to every web page on your website is extremely important and is widely used by the The Search Engine’s, most importantly Google. Make it between 5-10 words and put your best Keyword/Phrase at the beginning e.g. ‘Describe Page Content’.

The Description Meta Tag should be less than 150 characters in order to suit all Search Engines. Anything more than this will simply be missed out with some Search Engine’s. The “description” is what most Search Engine’s use to describe your site when listed in its results. Make sure it is ENTICING for potential customers. It should include at least 5 of your best keywords, words of advise... DO NOT just repeat all of them in your “meta tag description”.

Have Questions?
Contact: www.TheWebSuccessCoach.com

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Very Cool Google Language Tools...

Search Specific Languages or Countries - Google Language Tools...

Check out the Google Translator Tool all you need to do is type in the translate box what you want Google to translate for you, then you select the language you want the phrase or ad text to be translated to and it does it for you.

Very Cool Tool, Thumbs Up Google!!

Check out this page for all the great Google Tools:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/about.html

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Choosing The Proper Shopping Cart For Your Biz...

Recommending a Great Online Shopping Cart Comparison Site...

There are so many different Online Shopping Carts out there, which one is right for you? The truth is no one can tell you which cart or version of a cart is perfect for your business. Only you know your business like you know your business, but we can help you narrow down the field based upon which options you decide you need for an effective internet business. When evaluating different carts, you should keep three things in mind as criteria for selection: costs, functionality, and ease of use.

1. Cost – There is a range of different pricing for online shopping carts. The main difference across all carts is if they have a one time fee, or an ongoing monthly or per transaction fee. Evaluate these options based on the architecture of your business model. It may be better to have monthly fixed costs, rather than upfront fees or vice versa. Be sure to familiarize yourself with any contract terms before you commit to a cart.

2. Functionality – Each internet business has different functional requirements. A site that sells software via downloads will not need a shipping cost calculator in their cart, and similarly a site selling Beanie Babies will not need a digital download function in their cart. You can use CartCompare.com’s Cart Functions page to research the different available options. This should help you decide which functions best suit your particular business needs.

3. Ease of Use – Everyone has a different level of computer skill, and different carts may frustrate or confuse based upon that level of skill. There are carts that offer a minimum of different options and functions that are perfect for users that may not feel comfortable with a multitude of options, but these same carts would frustrate a more advanced user due to the lack of options. The opposite could be said about the more complex carts. Use the guide on the cart comparison page or visit the cart’s homepage to determine if the cart is right for your level of computer skill.

Friday, February 02, 2007

5 Search Engine Optimization Terms You Must Know!

The Following 5 (SEO) Search Engine Optimization Terms are very important for anyone with a Website to learn about. These Terms are from a Fantastic Resource Site called: www.Webopedia.com.

1. HTML

Short for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. For example, when you enter a URL in your browser, this actually sends an HTTP command to the Web server directing it to fetch and transmit the requested Web page.

2. Meta Tag
A special HTML tag that provides information about a Web page. Unlike normal HTML tags, meta tags do not affect how the page is displayed. Instead, they provide information such as who created the page, how often it is updated, what the page is about, and which keywords represent the page's content. Many search engines use this information when building their indices.

3. RSS
Short for RDF Site Summary or Rich Site Summary, an XML format for syndicating Web content. A Web site that wants to allow other sites to publish some of its content creates an RSS document and registers the document with an RSS publisher. A user that can read RSS-distributed content can use the content on a different site. Syndicated content includes such data as news feeds, events listings, news stories, headlines, project updates, excerpts from discussion forums or even corporate information.

4. Site Map
A hierarchical visual model of the pages of a Web site. Site maps help users navigate through a Web site that has more than one page by showing the user a diagram of the entire site's contents. Similar to a book's table of contents, the site map makes it easier for a user to find information on a site without having to navigate through the site's many pages. Also, in SEO, a site map can make it easier for a search engine spider to find all a site's pages.

5. Spider
A program that automatically fetches Web pages. Spiders are used to feed pages to search engines. It's called a spider because it crawls over the Web. Another term for these programs is webcrawler.

Because most Web pages contain links to other pages, a spider can start almost anywhere. As soon as it sees a link to another page, it goes off and fetches it. Large search engines, like Alta Vista, have many spiders working in parallel.

Have Questions?
Visit: Ask The Web Success Coach