Small Business Innovation

July 23, 2013 By Mike J

How to inject a massive dose of innovation into your company

While at first glance it would make sense that the smaller, more agile entrepreneurial companies among us would be by far the most innovative. You would think this would be true. And you also would be wrong. It’s not for a lack of trying or desire. It’s simply that smaller businesses do not have the R & D budgets, the staff, and the vision that larger companies can commission. Needless to say, the challenge for small business innovation is to break past the glass ceiling keeping it from innovating, and actually get into the game! Less than half of small businesses were brought into being as the result of a â€œnew ideaâ€, according to a study by Erik Hurst and Benjamin Wild Pugsley of the University of Chicago. They state that most new business is another â€œMe-tooâ€ venture, offering the already crowded marketplace another grocery, plumber or florist. Little innovation required, and consequently little growth.

So how does a small business get from the morass of just another business to one that is offering new and exciting products and services people are clamoring to try?

4 Strategies to create a culture of innovation in your business!

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Does SEO Work

May 23, 2013 By Mike J

Signs that your SEO is working

It’s easy to feel left out in the dark when it comes to understanding how effective your SEO campaign is. Even though many believe SEO is akin to voodoo, there are several tips and tools you can utilize to see exactly how well you (or they!) are doing.

3 Tips for checking the progress of your SEO

Getting search engine visitors? — The entire point of SEO is to improve the chances of your site getting a larger share of visitors from organic search.

Are your pages ranking? — If you can’ find your pages on the first few pages of Google for the keywords you’re going after, there is work to do.

Does your site convert? — While oodles of visitors is good, they’re nothing but a drain on bandwidth if they aren’t providing the desired result, whatever that happens to be.

3 Awesome Tools you can use!

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How to Get More Referrals

May 18, 2013 By Mike J Leave a Comment

Want more client referrals? Here’s how!

Most businesses are always looking for ways to find more client referrals. However as outlined by GrowThink.com some 58.6% of us don’t even take the time to request them! This isn’t something that takes place automagically, but instead is the offspring of a clear, targeted strategy used consistently. To help you catch the vision listed below are seven easy methods for getting more client referrals, faster and easier than you might have believed possible!

Recruit your best customers – Your best customers could be your best option, because they are already fond of what you do don’t need enticement to refer you to their circle of friends. You simply need to ask them! [Read more…]

Daily Deal Sites

May 17, 2013 By Mike J Leave a Comment

Are Daily Deal Sites Down for the Count? Not So Fast!

You’d believe from all the hate that’s been reported about daily deal sites, and the way they are now all history as an effective way to market your local business, we wouldn’t like them either. You’d be wrong. There’s an awful lot that goes into making daily deal sites enhance your local business, and a few well-publicized failures, shouldn’t end up being the reason to avoid using the daily deal model. As a matter of fact, when you take a close look, the lion’s share of these “failures” had plenty in common, particularly a obvious misunderstanding of exactly how to run a daily deal promotion, poor negotiation of their deals, and not keeping track of their customers redemption and spending. Given that they had unbelievable fails in these areas, is it any wonder they failed?

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Green Marketing

May 2, 2013 By Mike J Leave a Comment

Is it time for your business to go green?

Earth day come once again, and it’s a great time to look at how Green Marketing can be a effective way to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers. This is not just a wise way to conserve our precious natural resources, but it has become a hot political and social topic in our communities. The most obvious reason to embrace Green marketing is to manage our available resources with an eye toward good stewardship. Nonetheless, you would be wise to keep your business’s public image in mind simultaneously, because the image it projects can be a deciding factor for many people these days. Many will opt for an eco-friendly choice over another company that doesn’t practice Green marketing on principle alone.

How to attract and appeal to socially conscious consumers [Read more…]

Yellow Pages – Obsolete Advertising?

October 26, 2012 By Mike J Leave a Comment

What’s a business owner to do?

Recently there was a news item from the Orlando, Florida area regarding Yellow Pages. What makes an ubiquitous book like the Yellow Pages a news story? Exactly that! They are everywhere! Evidently, at least in the Orlando area, something is going to be done about it.

It doesn’t matter if you are a small business owner or a consumer, you have the same problem. Which book do I use? The consumer is only going to keep so many Yellow Page books and a business can only afford to advertise in a few. Of course both parties are looking for the same thing — Results! Either you want to find what you are looking for in the Yellow Pages you decide to keep – or – you want sales from the book you decided to advertise in.

[Read more…]

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