Category Archives: Marketing

Google Search Results Are Changing

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If your business relies heavily on search engines for pageviews and sales, recent changes in Google search results will drastically affect how your customers find you.

Besides all the Google updates, the latest being ‘Fresh’, Google now delivers personalised search results, based on your individual search history. This is happening already, whether or not you’re logged into your Google account. And these results also include videos, products, blogs and social mentions too.

Search and Social are now an item

The separation of ‘search’ and ‘social’ has ended. Social media like Twitter, Facebook and social bookmarking now heavily influence search rankings. The chances are that search results are even more personalised depending on your social media activity!

Why it matters

It all means that Google search results will differ from person to person. Your business might be #1 on page 1 for Person A… and come nowhere with an identical search for Person B! The Holy Grail of getting yourself to the top of the Google search pile is now effectively unobtainable. So what can you do instead?

Get yourself in Google places

Local search marketing is becoming vital to consumers, and Google Places now dominates search results. If your business relies on local business, you simply must be seen in Google Places.

Make sure your keywords answer the key questions

People search Google to answer specific questions. So anticipate these, and make sure that your keywords – and the content on your pages – reflect the likely answers. Keyword research is probably the most important aspect of Search Engine Optimisation!

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Reasons to Hire a Small Business Marketing Consultant

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Many business owners operate under the false assumption that marketing consultants are only affordable for larger companies. In truth, there are many benefits to hiring a small business marketing consultant, as outlined below.

What Marketing Consultants Do

First, here’s a look at just what a consultant does for organizations:

Overall company evaluation. It’s hard for new business owners to evaluate their young organizations. A consultant can pull from years of business experience to assess the weaknesses and strengths of a fledgling business.

Strategic planning. Consultants must have:

1. A strong educational record in business.

2. Extensive experience as a business leader.

3. Exceptional understanding of how business trends work.

These features allow marketing planners to provide suggestions on how a business can succeed. After learning about an organization and identifying major opportunities and obstacles, a small business marketing consultant should be able to create a strategic plan to lead the firm to success.

Marketing design. Chances are your small business marketing consultant can write excellent ad copy to draw in new customers. Beyond designing small business marketing strategies, consultants can construct complete marketing campaigns. From graphic design to copywriting and editing, a small business consultant can wear many different hats while helping your business succeed.

Project and process management. The consulting lifestyle appeals to many leaders in the corporate world. Indeed, most small business consultants are top business performers who have decided to shift to a different way of life. This means consultants usually have project management and process design skills, which they can employ to improve your business’s performance.

How Small Companies Benefit

Let’s explore the benefits of hiring such consultants:

A fresh perspective. Contracting with a consultant as one of your marketing strategies will bring you an unbiased, fresh perspective. Internal conflicts and ongoing office politics can limit one’s vision. Outside consultants are free of preconceived ideas about your business, so they can provide a fresh perspective.

High-quality help. As mentioned earlier, most business consultants have transitioned to consultancy from a star-studded business career. In other words, you’ll likely receive top-shelf advice from your consultant – and for less than the cost of a single employee.

Peace of mind. Partnering with a marketing contractor can help you feel calm and confident about the future of your business. With peace of mind, you can better focus on your organization’s core offerings and drawing in new business.

This is a preview of Reasons to Hire a Small Business Marketing Consultant. Read the full post (481 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Cheap Business Cards – Powerful Advertising Tool For Your Business

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When it comes to the world of business, getting the name of the business out there is one of the owner’s main concerns. Yes, for any business to be successful, it must have a sound marketing strategy. Fortunately, there is a myriad of business marketing tools and strategies one can utilize. Should you require a marketing tool that is both affordable and effective, then you might want to start printing business cards now. These cards have been around for as long as we can remember. Are they still relevant or effective? Whether it is a big company or small to medium business can benefit from cheap business cards, as they still remain as one of the most powerful marketing tools around.

It is amazing how a little piece of paper like cheap business cards can have such an impact to a prospective customer. But these cards are more than just a piece of paper, it is in fact a representation of your business. So depending on the quality and design of the business card itself, it can potentially make or break your business. Handing out a poor quality card may backfire on you because customers might think that you are lacking in professionalism and thus will surely hesitate to do business with you. On the other hand, giving out a well made and designed card will create a strong first impression on the recipient and thus it will reflect on your business as well.

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International Marketing Intelligence and Planning for Small Businesses

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International marketing occurs when a seller or small business with a product to sell directs its services towards potential consumers in another country other than the country it resides. Typically this is done when the product the business wishes to sell is believed to have more of a potential demand in foreign markets.

Market commitment

Marketing internationally requires a huge commitment, thus the seller of the product must be prepared to make this commitment. This requires much more genuine efforts than throwing money at a new exporting venture, even if the seller has the finances for this. The seller needs to establish an international presence. This entails not only thorough knowledge of the country that is chosen, but preferably closes contacts with those familiar in this area.

The Obstacles

While the principles of marketing is generally the same worldwide, the foreign environment the seller is targeting can be dramatically diverse from country to country and even region to region. Frequent foreign marketing concerns include:

• Advertising
• Input costs
• Price
• Distribution
• The environment/it’s stability

These factors are likely to differ in countries the seller chooses to market its product. The key to getting over these hurdles — whether a very large corporation or a small entrepreneurial venture — is to coordinate and manage an efficient plan.

The Options

The seller can expand internationally merely by setting up their own manufacturing base in the particular country they target. Though this is usually the option for large corporations, this is hardly ever an option for smaller business ventures because this usually requires enormous sums of capital. The seller can also explore international markets through export sales. This can be achieved by either direct or indirect export through a joint business arrangement, whereby the seller forms a partnership with either domestic or foreign intermediaries already located and established in the country. Business consultants, who specialize in this area, can also provide priceless expertise and guidance in these strategies. These consultants can:

• Connect the seller with local intermediaries they can trust and rely on.
• Obtain information on pricing, potential customers, advertising, input costs and distribution.
• Assist in contract negotiation.
• Develop the most ideal sales and marketing strategies for each particular market.
• Help set up the seller’s exportation enterprise faster and more efficiently.

This is a preview of International Marketing Intelligence and Planning for Small Businesses. Read the full post (443 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)