Archive for the ‘Small Business Tips’ Category
Description of ‘Small Business Tips’ Category: Tips for the entrepreneur looking to get their business off the ground and for small businesses looking to take their company to the next level.
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
One of the most important elements of a website is the title tag. A title tag is technically called a title element which is contained in the heading section of the website’s HTML code. A Title tag is required for all HTML/XHTML documents and defines the title for each web page. The title tag is considered the primary text description of an online document and besides the actual content it is regarded as the most important of all Search Engine Optimization factors.
What Makes the Title Tag So Special?
Although every webpage is required to have a title tag most businesses neglect to optimize them. A company website isn’t complete without a fully optimized title tag. With an optimized title tag you can greatly increase the chances of customers coming to your website. Optimized title tags are extremely important for websites because they are visible in three distinct locations. These locations include the top of the browser window, the search engine results page (SERP), and the links from external websites.
Title tags draw a lot of attention to the top of the browser window. This position also enables a page visitor to know immediately where they are and if they are in the right place. Other websites and social media often use the title tag as the anchor text when linking to your site. When displayed on a search results page the title tag can also quickly grab the attention of a searcher and influence them to you visit your website. Since the title tag is a highly important search engine ranking factor it directly coordinates with what users are searching for and allows you to target a specific audience. Title tags also help target important keywords. This again helps with ranking better in search engines and finding potential customers. The title tag also appears when people bookmark your page and lets them know what your site is at a quick glance.
How Do You Optimize a Title Tag?
As you can see the benefits of having an effective title tag are tremendous. Most importantly an optimized title tag has the potential to attract valuable traffic to your website and business. The following are some of the best practices associated with creating title tags.
Primary Keyword – Secondary Keyword | Brand Name
(Leverages your keywords, products or services)
Brand Name | Primary Keyword and Secondary Keyword
(Leverages your brand name and is recommended for bigger or more reputable companies)
- Place important keywords closer to the front of the title tag.
- Use less than 70 characters, otherwise the search results will show ellipsis – “…” to indicate that a title tag has been cut off.
- Create a descriptive and relevant keyword-laden title tag. The title tag is thought to be the most important place to use keywords to achieve high rankings.
- Create a compelling title that encourages users to visit your site while maintaining your relevance and integrity.
The title tag is hands down one of the most important elements of a website other than its content. In order for a business to take full advantage of the opportunity that the title tag provides they must fully optimize it for their website and keywords. By following the best practices that were outlined in this article a website can be well on their way to gaining more relevant traffic and a higher conversion rate.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: keyword, optimized title tag, tags, title, title tag, title tags, website
Posted in Marketing, Small Business Tips, Website | No Comments »
Friday, July 29th, 2011
The real measure of a successful website isn’t the number of visitors but rather the number of conversions. A great looking web design and a high click through rate will ultimately mean nothing if they fail to generate conversions. A conversion is when a visitor comes to your site and performs a certain task. These desired actions could be purchasing a product, getting a quote, signing up for a newsletter, or any other specified goal. For most businesses attracting traffic isn’t the problem it’s acquiring the conversion. To help with increasing the conversion rate websites often implement landing pages and call to actions.
from http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/02/top-3-best-practices-creating-landing.html, July 2011
A landing page is the webpage on which a visitor arrives on following the click action. Landing pages often target particular streams of traffic hence the highest importance to construct a targeted landing page. Email and social media marketing is a perfect opportunity to send visitors to a specific landing page with the best chance of conversion. Landing pages can drastically increase the opportunity to convert traffic into sales leads. Sending these individuals to a home page rather than a targeted conversion page could mean a huge missed opportunity.
A landing page can have various actions depending on the type of business. Such actions include signing up for newsletters, purchasing a product, getting a quote and so on. Although these actions will vary but the main goal will always be to attract, retain, and convert visiting users. The landing page is crucial to acquiring customers and guides visitors through the conversion process. Page visitors often have a limited tolerance for flaws in this process and even the smallest error can quickly turn them away. For example some people don’t like to fill out forms, some are afraid of being scammed when buying a product and others may not want to provide their information because they don’t want to be spammed. This process surely presents site owners with several difficulties which is why it is necessary to find creative methods to successful finalize the conversion.
It’s definitely important to view your landing page through the eyes of your customers. What does a potential customer contemplate before converting? Upon landing customers commonly consider if they are in the right place, the trust level they have for the site, the amount of time the process will take, and the potential benefit from the conversion. The landing page should first address these concerns and then proceed to display your introduction copy, any media content, product information, customer testimonials, as well as any other relevant information. Below are more elements that a landing page should contain.
How to Improve a Landing Page:
What is the purpose of your landing page? Once you have determined a clear goal for your landing page remain focused and try to limit navigation if possible. The purpose of the landing page is to obtain the conversion not direct users to other portions of your website.
Understand what they are looking for when they land on your page and be sure to address the needs of that targeted traffic. Avoid generic landing pages and try to produce an emotional appeal to your visitors.
Don’t include unnecessary elements for the fun of it and keep it free of distractions. Try to keep your landing page clean, simple, and to the point. Emphasize your purpose and stick to it.
It is a common mistake for landing pages not to match the advertisement or email that was used to link to the page. Visitors want to know that they have arrived at the correct location so provide visual cues to show customers that they are on the correct path. For instance use the same colors, keywords, and locations of action on the advertising and on the landing page.
- Keep the Call to action above the Fold:
The most important element on the landing page is the call to action. The call to action is the purpose behind the landing page and should be clearly visible. The call to action ties in directly with the conversion. A successful call to action is short, easy to understand, urgent, highly visible on the page, present throughout the landing page, and encourages people to convert. Like a regular newspaper a webpage has a virtual fold. Unfortunately anything that requires a user to scroll immediately loses some of its value and is sometimes ignored all together.
Only ask for necessary information because most people don’t like to fill out forms. Make your forms character specific so that letters can be entered only into word fields and numbers only in number fields. Also make your forms simple to tab through or automatically move to the next field once the information is entered.
Never lead viewers away from the focal point. Emphasize all important information with the use of typography, colors, and graphics. Without being obnoxious draw attention to and lead the viewer’s eyes to the conversion action. Be careful, adding too many colors, fonts, or pictures will create a distraction.
To optimize a landing page the best thing you can do is testing. Test various landing pages on different targeted groups and analyze the results to determine the best one. Following the testing process you should ask yourself the following questions. Is the page focused, does it provide quality to you and your visitors, does it maintain the same familiarity used in the original advertisement, is all the important information above the fold and highlighted, is the page enticing, and does it hold true to your brand?
In conclusion attracting page visitors is only the initial step of having a successful website. Generating incoming traffic is only half the battle and when it comes to having a dominant presence your website will also need to be able to secure conversions. With Search Engine Optimization site owners can drastically increase the traffic to their site but without an effective conversion process in place those efforts may be wasted. Landing pages with the previously mentioned characteristics along with a trustworthy website are extremely valuable when trying to secure conversions.
What do you think makes a successful landing page?
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: call to action, click through rate, conversion, landing, landing page, landing pages, visitor, webpage
Posted in Small Business Tips, Website | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 15th, 2011
Despite its unconventional name Squidoo can be an extremely beneficial Internet Marketing tool for small businesses. Squidoo is a community website platform that has been around for more than five years. During that time they have accumulated over 1.5 million lenses which are mini topical webpages that users create directly on the Squidoo platform. Squidoo calls these mini pages “lenses” because they draw attention to specific niches similar to how a camera lens focuses on a certain object or experience. During Squidoo’s first six months in operation more than 100,000 lenses were created, setting the tone for its future achievements.
from http://www.squidoo.com/, July 2011
Squidoo is completely free, easy to use, fast, and fun. The creation of Squidoo lenses can be a great way to showcase your area of expertise and reach new customers. Typically lenses compile information on a specific topic or business but they have also been known to be used for hobbies, passions, and personal profiles. Their original tagline “Everyone’s an Expert (on something)” explains Squidoo’s main principle, everyone has something to contribute and it’s their goal is to provide an outlet for that sharing.
Why Use Squidoo:
Besides the fact that it’s a free high quality social media platform, Squidoo offers users the chance to reach an expansive online community and potentially build a larger customer base. Squidoo lenses are niche focused and offer some of the best content and advice on the Internet. With the help of Squidoo a small business could effectively spread their message and company awareness to millions of users.
This free promotional resource can attract potential clients and may encourage them to visit your company’s website. Squidoo marketing allows you to provide users with a ton of useful information and provide unlimited links your website, blog, and products. The lens owners even have the chance to generate revenue using Squidoo Profit Modules and Widgets. Most importantly, Google likes Squidoo and your lenses have a good chance of being indexed. The bottom line is that like most social networks, Squidoo provides an opportunity to find more potential customers and offers many more paths to you website.
Getting Started With Squidoo:
When using Squidoo for the first time you will be required to create a username and password. After establishing an account you can begin filling in your main profile, this profile will be similar to your home page and will be connected to each of the lenses that you create. Also the profile is a great opportunity to earn link value by linking to your company website. Your profile consists of your name, username, bio, picture, feature lenses, links to external sites, and your account settings.
Once you are finished you can click on the Create a lens button on the Squidoo Dashboard to begin your first Squidoo lens. When building a lens keep in my mind that there are key elements that every lens needs to have to be an effective marketing tool. The following is a list of what users look for and appreciate when surfing Squidoo lenses.
Make sure that your content is engaging and your enthusiasm for the subject is apparent.
- Easy to digest amounts of content
Be careful with the amount of text that you include. Try delivering small bite size amounts of information so visitors can easily scan your content. Most users do not want to read a book when searching for specific information so instead try to take the PowerPoint approach by adding bulleted information.
In order to drive appropriate attention to your website stay focused on what your lens is about. Users who visit your site mostly arrive there by searching for your topic and probably don’t want to be presented with unrelated information.
The modules on Squidoo provide a great opportunity to link to external sites. Users can link their other social networking accounts like Twitter and Facebook directly on their lens. The Twitter module will allow a user to display their user name, amount of followers, and recent post. Additionally a user can link RSS feeds to their lens which provides a great way to link to their company blog. Squidoo also provides a number of other modules that allow users to link to any website on the Internet.
In addition to useful content eye candy is another major part of retaining visitors. Users want to be presented with exciting design and content not something that appears dull. Pictures are a great way to add to the user experience and provoke more positive reaction.
Again the purpose is to entice visitors and avoid being boring. Using the same module over and over again will tire quickly unless of course you have some amazing content. Change up your lens structure by alternating between the hundreds of available modules.
Squidoo allows users to associate forty tags with their lens. It’s advised that you use all forty keywords because each one acts as another way for other users to locate your lens. It is important to use tags that are relevant to the topic to ensure that the correct audience is being targeted. In addition to the forty lens tags, users can also add tags in their pictures and other link modules.
Squidoo and other social network users like to be able to communicate and interact with other users. On a Squidoo lens, users can engage their visitors by can creating comment modules, polls, surveys, guest books, sharing modules, user spotlights, videos, pictures, and links to other social media websites.
How to Maintain Your Squidoo:
Although it only takes a short time to put together a lens in order for it to stand out amongst others it will require more time and effort. Once the initial lens is created you should still perform regular updates and continue to provide useful information. Putting in the extra time to progress your lens and maintain its quality is well worth the chance of it appearing on the search engine results page. Continuous updates and optimization will most likely lead to an increase in Squidoo page visits, traffic to your business website, PageRank, and hopefully conversion rate.
For more information check out the following links
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: content, internet marketing, lens, lenses, module, Small Business, Squidoo, Squidoo lens
Posted in Marketing, Small Business Tips, Social Networking | No Comments »
Friday, June 17th, 2011
When assigning a rank to a website, Search Engines consider hundreds of mix-matched factors that come together to create their unique ranking algorithms. Thought to be among the most important of all ranking factors is the number of quality inbound links, however more and more people feel that local citations are just as important regardless of if they provide a link or not.
What is a local citation?
In our past blog articles we have mentioned how businesses can increase their local presence pertaining to Google Places and Bing Business Portal, however these are only two of the sites often used for acquiring local citations. A local citation or web reference is when another website mentions a business and its contact information, this can occur with or without a link to the business’s website.
from http://www.Yelp.com, June 2011
Why local citations are important:
Why are local citations growing more popular? Local citations have become one of the most recommended off site SEO methods to increase a webrank. It is thought that when it comes to local search, the ranking algorithm changes and assign more value to citations from trusted sources rather than other inbound links. Citations or business mentions are a great way to produce more online visibility for a business and can also help search engines know your business better. Although local citations do not always provide a link, they continue to help grow the reputation of a business within the community and the search engines.
Where to look:
Search engines like Google scan the Internet frequently to analyze and index websites. As a business collects more citations, the more exposure it gains and the higher it can rank. Missing out on local citations from a trusted sites or poorly optimizing your site locally is a sure fire way to quickly fall behind your competition. There are plenty of Local citations to be claimed and there are many places you can find them. The following is a quick list of sources to help you can find your local citations.
Local citations can be obtained on major search engines by creating or registering your business listing. Bing Business Portal, Google Places, and Yahoo Local are the best places to start.
- Local or Second Tier Search Engines:
Along with the major search engines there is also a ton of second tier and localized search engines that provide business citations. Yelp, YellowPages, Superpages, InsiderPages, Localeze, CitySearch, InfoUSA, and iBegin are just a few of these types of websites.
- Local Blogs and Directories:
A business can also collect citations by taking part in the neighborhood blogs that feature local companies, area business directories, or industry related forums. Local business or regional directories like Best of the Web’s Regional Directory and Yahoo’s Regional Directory can also provide local business citations.
Businesses can easily create a local citation by incorporating their address and business name on the articles that they submit to article directories.
One of the best resources for local citations is social media. Most social networking sites let users create business profiles which make them a popular place to list a business. Creating a business profile on a social networking site not only supplies customers and search engines with your business information but it also leads to large amounts of traffic or link value. Sites like FourSquare, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, Squidoo, and Delicious are just some of the many social media sites that provide these opportunities for local citations.
If you are still having trouble locating local citations you can always look at your competitor’s portfolio. Performing competitive research can provide you with a ton of sources to obtain links and citations from. The Local Citation Finder is just one of the many tools on the Internet created to find competitor citations.
These are just a few recommendations to get you started on building your local citation portfolio. For more citation sources visit 20 SEO Local Citation Sources. Good Luck!
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: business, business listing, citation, local, Local Business, local citation, page rank, search engine
Posted in Marketing, Small Business Tips | No Comments »
Friday, June 10th, 2011
Over the past couple of years the number of resources available for small businesses has grown tremendously with the growth of new technology. With innovative technology like Smartphones and tablet PC’s, businesses now have access to a number of applications that are designed for a variety of professions. Cutting costs are important for most businesses but it is also important that they retain their quality which is why many companies have begun to utilize the free or low cost applications to assist with day to day operations. When using these applications, business professionals are able to elevate their service and productivity to a whole new level.
from http://www.apple.com/ipad/, June 2011
The Apple iPad is a great example of how mobile technology has revolutionized the manner in which both large and small businesses can operate. A recent commercial from Apple showcases the iPad in use in different work and social environments. The commercial really speaks to how we can successfully integrate technology into our daily lives and expand on all our experiences. The iPad commercial sets a positive tone for the future of our technology as it advertises that this is only the beginning and this type of technology is “just getting started”.
The following applications are completely free and cover a wide range of uses. These innovative developments cover activities like business development, communication, marketing, payment and sales, customer management, and much more. Many of the mobile applications listed below work across different devices and platforms like the BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
Email Marketing: Communicate with your customers. Don’t wait for them to come to you, go to them.
- Tiny Letter– This is an easy to use service that lets a user type and design email newsletters. The service will send them out according to the specifications set by the customer.
- MailChimp- With MailChimp you can Design, send, share on social networks, and track your email campaigns. This service lets you send up to 20,000 emails and have 2,000 subscribers completely free.
Professional Development: Add, follow, and manage professional relationships with clients, co-workers, and associates.
- NoteLeaf– After scheduling a meeting on your Google calendar this phone app will send out an alert prior to the meeting. The alert provides the user with important meeting information like who you’re meeting, a picture of who you’re meeting, where you’re meeting them, directions how to get there, the time of the meeting, a link to quick contact in case you’re running late, and other specified information.
- Card Munch– With this service you can take a picture of a business card and it will be transcribed into a contact format. The actual transcription is reviewed by real team of individuals to ensure accuracy. Card Munch not only places the new contact in your phones primary contact folder but also adds the contact in its own in app contact folder. This app also backs up all scanned contacts for an easy sync process and uses the logos on the business cards as the person’s picture.
- Bump– Lets two individuals exchange contact info, pictures, videos, music, and other information just by bumping their phones together.
Presentations: Prepare notes, design, and execute presentations flawlessly without spending.
- Slideshare- With Slideshare customers can create, upload, and access a presentation from anywhere with an Internet connection.
- 280 Slides- Allows users to create or upload existing presentation directly in the browser. These presentations are stored on a server and can be accessed from any location at any time. Customers can upload images or videos and include them in their presentations. They can also export the created slideshow as a PowerPoint presentation.
Backup and File Sharing: Backup your information on cloud storage and easily share files with other users.
- Amazon Cloud Drive- Amazon offers 5GB free of online storage. Users can store, share, and access their data from anywhere.
- Dropbox- Dropbox Lets users places up to 2GB of content into their drop box and automatically syncs their drop box contents to their other devices. The content is also stored on the Drop Box site so that it is never lost and can be shared easily with other users.
- Box.net- Box.net offers 5BG free data so that users can upload, manage, and share business resources online.
Customer Relationship Management: Acquire and keep your customers satisfied.
- SalesForce Mobile– Keeps your customer records and information at your fingertips where ever you are. The mobile version of this is free but users will need to pay a minimum of $2 to be an actual Sales Force web customer.
Video Production: Create and Share marketing videos with your audience.
- Ustream.tv– Easily stream live events, build an audience, and express your message to your customers.
- Live Stream– This is a broadcasting platform that lets you connect and engage your audiences as you share your message across the web and mobile devices.
Social Media Monitoring: Stay connected with your following and monitor your social media impact.
- Postling- This service helps customers create content, stay organized, and reach out to their customers.
- Crowdbooster – Measures your social performance on Twitter and Facebook and helps customers optimize for social media marketing.
Time Management and Note Taking: Increase your efficiency by knowing what is going on and when it is happening.
- Workflowy- Organize all of your thoughts in one place, categorize them, and review them easily. Workflowy is as easy to use as a simple text editor and can increase productivity and organization.
- Evernote- This web app allows users to save or make note of virtually anything imaginable. It also offers several compatible mobile apps that expand on the experience. With Evernote users can save anything, organize it, and access it anywhere.
Legal Advice: Get your Legal questions and find out the latest new on legal cases.
- Law Pivot- U sers can find answers to all their confidential legal questions at Law Pivot. After a user submits their questions the Law Pivot team identifies qualified lawyers to answer the question. They then send back multiple answers to the user.
Communications: Don’t limit your business to expensive phone services that lack options and important features.
- Google Voice- This service works with any existing phone service plan and offers some great features like one number, this option lets users choose one number for multiple phones. The Google Voice number will control which ever phone(s) the user selects. The service can be customized for specific callers or calling times, also the service transcribes voice mail to a written and organized communication record.
- Skype– Is an Internet phone company that offers free Skype to Skype calls, one to one video calls, instant messaging, and screen sharing. Skype also offers a ton of other features with their payment plans.
Customer and Employee Training : Teach your customers and employees through online courses and videos.
- Mindflash- Create employee training courses from scratch or existing material. Mindflash enables employers to track the progress of their trainees and also includes tests and quizzes.
- Udemy- Lets users create online teaching videos for any subject matter. These videos can be used as promotional tools to generate customer awareness or as an educational resource for customers and employees.
Customer Support: Connect with your clients
- Zopim- Provides a live chat widget where the business can perform live sales and provide customer support. The widget works across multiple browser and even works across mobile devices.
Group Building and Collaboration: Create an effective and collaborative environment where people enjoy communicating with each other.
- Teamly– Connect and share with co-workers. This online communication platform lets workers prioritize their daily task and communicate any problems or progress.
- Yammer– Provides a private internal corporate communication system for employees to develop group communication and organization. The network works similar to the social networking site Facebook.
These are only some of the many online and mobile applications available to you and your business. Free alternatives are always a good option especially if they are able to provide the same value and benefit as those with expensive price tags.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: Android, Apple, Mobile, mobile app, Productivity, Small Business, Small Business Tools, web apps, web services
Posted in Business Software, Mobile Applications, Productivity, Small Business Tips | No Comments »
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
Email campaigns may be a great way for a business to generate an increase in sales but they can also produce a negative effect on the business if poorly executed. Although email campaigns do not provide the same results as they once did due to social networking sites, if done correctly, an email campaign should not only increase company sales and exposure but should also provide value to the customers. Many companies employing email campaigns often fall short of accomplishing their goals because the emails appear too spammy, lack customer value, or fail to project any personality. The tips below serve as a rough outline to create better email campaign communication between customers and businesses. By using these outlined tips a company can improve their email campaign’s chances of appealing to their customers.
When it comes to email campaigns it is important to provide content that is actually helpful to your consumers. You don’t want to email them for the sake of emailing. Send out information that is promotional or newsworthy. Many companies use email to remind customers of their presence but tend to offer little to no true value with these reminders. The common response that most customers have when these types of emails are sent out is automatic deletion. Unless a customer feels like they will benefit from the contents of the email, it will probably remain unread and a wasted expense for the company.
When sending out emails try to give your customers something to care about and appreciate, rather than just bothering them with useless information. Only relevant and appropriate information should be included such as deals, promotions, events, product updates, business changes, and other information worthwhile for your consumers. Keep your email campaigns focused and remember that the purpose of your email campaigns is to attract customers not annoy them.
- Take Advantage of The Subject Line:
Do not overlook the power of the subject line, this part of the email provides the most influence towards the customers decision to read or delete the email. In the subject line it is important to create a short and sweet message that again appeals to the customer without trying too hard. Trying too hard will only appear as spam and will turn away readers. Find creative ways to capture the attention of email recipients while avoiding using all caps and word repetition to convey your message. The subject line should be used to emphasize why the customer should care and also provides an opportunity to add a touch of personalization.
- Don’t Blind Readers With Your Call to Action:
For email campaigns it is best to use a call to action that is subtle. Rather than forcing the reader’s attention to the call to action make it noticeable but natural. Customers are more likely to click on an appealing offer that seems more legitimate rather than one that dominates the page and is perceived as forceful.
- Remain focused on the Customer:
Avoid using words and phrases that are focused on your own business and instead use customer driven keywords. Convey your message without over inflating your sales pitch, express how the contents of the email will benefit the customers, be transparent, and authentic.
- Show That You Care, Personalize:
If you know the names of your customers take the opportunity to build a connection through the email. Customizing your email campaign with the names of your customers will show them that you put more effort into their future business and not just sending out generic emails. Along with the names of your customers you can also create quick messages that refer to previous experiences, products, or similarities. Birthdays are another great opportunity to build a customer relationship, for example sending out special messages or promotions on or around their birthday. Use an email format that is best suitable for your clients, do they like information in bullet form, pictures, and so on. These small differences might not seem like the most important details but knowing the likes of your customers is always a good start when it comes to business. No matter what, make your customers feel appreciated and take the time to customize their email, it will help them feel welcomed and more incline to use your business.
- Tryout Several Email Campaigns and Analyze the Results:
Try out various email campaigns and determine which of them was most beneficial to the increase in traffic or customer feedback. Test out newsletter frequency, personalization, email format, and find out what works best for your business and your customers. Analyze what was successful, what wasn’t, and learn from your mistakes. Continue to update and modify your campaign to get the best results.
- Provide An Option to Unsubscribe Not A Reason:
Don’t upset your customers by sending out unwanted emails, when performing commercial emails provide users with the option to unsubscribe. Not only can your emails be marked as spam by frustrated customers but it is also a law to provide an unsubscribe button. The CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business details a set of regulations for commercial email. This law establishes all the rules for commercial messages and according to the CAN-SPAM Act email recipients must have the option to discontinue any future emails. Failure to comply with these standards can lead to fines, penalties and wasted email campaign efforts.
Hopefully these tips will help with your next email campaign, for more tips visit Exact Target Email Marketing Tips and Improve Email Newsletter Open Rate.
For assistance with your email marketing campaigns you can also check out professional services like Constant Contact, Active Campaign, ExactTarget and Benchmark Email.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: business, customer, email, email campaign, email marketing, email subject line, mail, marketing campaign
Posted in Business Tools, Communication, Small Business Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, May 6th, 2011
The need to save money has always been present but in recent years that need has grown to be the primary concern for most businesses. There are a number of ways that a business can attempt to save money however the trick is to do so while avoiding a loss in company quality and customer connection. Living up to or developing the company brand should always be emphasized even while cutting costs. It can be tough for businesses to maintain their present status while making these adjustments which is why it might be a good idea to consider starting with smaller reductions like using free alternative software applications.
from http://www.openoffice.org/ May 2011
Free software or freeware probably won’t solve any major financial dilemmas that company may be facing but it could be a good place to start. Below is a list of free software that has the potential to save businesses a few dollars while maintaining the quality that their customers have come to expect from them.
Security Software:
Security is crucial for all businesses, whether it’s for Anti-virus or Data encryption it is one of the aspects that should never be neglected regardless of the financial standing of a company. Security programs can be pricy and even pricier when purchasing multiple licenses for an entire office. Most companies feel that in order to have effective security they need to purchase from a well known and expensive provider, which is always the case. Sure, it would be nice to have the best security program available but company funds don’t always allow that. Depending on the type of company and the data that they are responsible for, it’s not unreasonable to utilize free basic security programs. Some of the free security applications that provide basic protection include:
Easy to use security application that helps defend your computer against spyware, viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malicious software.
Free for users who already have a Comcast account. Helps protect your personal information, includes Norton Security Suite to protect against viruses and also has Secure Backup and Identity Guard.
Offers basic Anti-virus and Anti-spyware protection.
Offers basic Anti-virus and Anti-spyware protection.
Provides basic protection from viruses, spyware and offers a password protector.
Office Software:
Most businesses utilize some form of office or word processing software for their every day business activity. Most people are familiar with Microsoft Office however most of the features that Office provides aren’t exactly necessary for everyday use. Several alternative options for Microsoft Office that manage to provide the same primary functions include:
Lets users create documents, spreadsheets, drawings, presentations, and forms all online. Google Documents also provides the opportunity for multiple users to collaborate on the same document in real time.
Very similar to Microsoft Word without the price tag.
This software suite offers free word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and more. OpenOffice is probably the best known free alternative that is easy to use and completely free.
Storage Software:
Instead of buying extra hard drive space, offline backups or newer computers a good alternative for extra space is cloud storage. Although you can find good deals on cloud storage for multiple computers the free storage websites shouldn’t be overlooked. Some of the data backup sites that offer limited online storage for free include:
Offers a free 25 GB of online storage with the option to purchase more.
Offers a free 5 GB of online storage with the option to purchase more.
Offers a free 5 GB of online storage with the option to purchase more and saving plans for multiple users.
Free basic version online backup drive or one year trial for their professional version.
Operating Systems:
Free operating systems can save a company a lot of money. It is a common misconception that people are stuck with either Windows or the Mac operating systems but in reality there are many free alternatives available like Linux which is completely open source.
One of the most popular free operating systems, fast, secure, and easy to use alternative.
In addition to those mentioned there is a ton of other freeware applications on the internet that can be used for many purposes and provide financial benefits. Choosing a free alternative requires companies to devote some time to finding the appropriate replacement and be willing to utilize software that may not be as popular as the ones from Microsoft, Kaspersky, and Carbonite.
It is often faster and easier for businesses to spend money in order to get something done which makes it hard to break the cycle of spending. However once a business does get out of that routine they will begin to find more and more alternatives to save money. Again free software is a great place to start for any business trying to reduce some financial pressure. Starting with free software alternatives may seem small but can provide significant savings for most companies. With that being said it’s also very important that when considering free software that you do your research and download only from reputable websites.
Have any free software suggestion? Share them below.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: business, company spending, free software alternatives, freeware, money, saving money, Security, software, Storage
Posted in Business Tools, Finance, Small Business Tips | No Comments »
Friday, April 15th, 2011
With most consumers the concepts of brand and logo are often misunderstood as being one in the same. This however is not the case and although identity and company logos usually correlate with one another, they remain two separate elements of a business. It is easy to see how a brand and logo can be interpreted as being the same because they play a similar role in a business marketing strategy. It is important for any business to build both a brand identity as well as a successful logo design. This is not to say that without one of these elements the company won’t be successful but having both of these elements can certainly help build the business to customer relationship. If done correctly, a brand identity and logo should reinforce each other and add to the public’s perception of a company.
 NFL Logo - www.nfl.com - April 2011 So, what exactly is the difference between a brand and a logo?
Brand identity commonly refers to the reputation and perception of the company from the customer’s point of view. It is the feeling felt toward the business or motivation behind the choice to use that particular company. Brand identity creates the atmosphere surrounding the organization whereas a logo is used to identify a company or differentiate them from competitors. A good company logo design should trigger the thoughts of a customer and cause them to consider or reflect on the brand identity associated with that company.
A logo is frequently a graphic element, text, or a combination of both. The purpose of a logo is to convey a brand or trademark in a manner that stands out to the consumer and identifies the company from others. Logos provide a quick visual representation of a company and should hold significant meaning for that company. Company logos vary drastically and have often followed certain patterns throughout the years. Some companies use images or figures where others may use strictly text. Furthermore a company may even decide to utilize acronyms or simply spell out the company’s name with different fonts or text arrangement.
Considerations when creating a logo:
When creating a company logo there are several questions that a company should address. These considerations include: What type of business they are, what message they want to send to their customers or potential customers, what are the positive and negative interpretations of that message, and what type of logo will best translate that message?
Elements of a good logo:
- Clean, simple, and versatile.
- Strong and appealing visual impact.
- Distinctive in design from other logos.
- Cohesive with company concepts and principles.
- Appropriate and relative images, colors, and text.
- Universal understanding.
- Unique and memorable design that creates a lasting impression.
- Longevity and timelessness.
- Incorporates modern design techniques (unless the logo is meant to appear dated)
Types of Logos:
The following are six different types of logo designs but regardless of which type a company uses it is important that is serving the purpose of reinforcing a brand identity. The following logo designs each has strengths and weakness and should be carefully considered using the criteria previously mentioned.
- Brandmarks/Icons/Symbols:A brandmark logo design is a pictorial representation of a product or company. These types of logos are bold and visually appealing icons that do not incorporate any text. (Examples: Apple, Nike, NBC)
- Wordmark/Logotype:
A wordmark logo utilizes the full company or product name and appears in unique stylized text. A wordmark can also be in the form of an acronym or initials. (Examples: Dell, CNN, Facebook)
- Combination Marks:A combination mark logo can come in a couple different forms and has both an icon as well as some form of stylized text. A typical combination mark usually has an icon with the name of the company or product positioned somewhere above or below it. (Examples: AT&T, Adidas, Blackberry)
Combination marks include:
- Lettermarks: A lettermark logo incorporates aspects from wordmarks and brandmarks. A lettermark makes use of one or two letters within the company or product name and emphasize those letters with a pictorial image or stylized text. (Example: Cricket Wireless)
- Abstractmarks:An abstractmark can also include text and images. Usually the image is a small visual design that emphasizes the text. (Example: Reebok)
- Emblem: Although an emblem logo uses a mixture of an image and text it deserves its own category. Emblems typically have text that is usually located inside the pictorial element and have a solid foundation or background. (Examples: NFL, Starbucks, Harley-Davidson)
A good logo design is used to influence and promote brand identity however a logo by itself will not create it. Simply adding a visual representation may symbolize your company’s brand, but it is the actions of your company and the experiences of your customers that shape its brand identity.
Comment Below: Do you have a favorite company logo? Which type do you like best?
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: brand, brand identity, company, company logo, design, logo, mark
Posted in Business Tools, Small Business Tips | 1 Comment »
Friday, April 1st, 2011
When considering the local presence of your business there are a couple key factors that will often play a vital role in how prominent you are in the local search results. When customers try to find your business by searching a service or product that you offer combined with the location of you business, is your business getting the necessary exposure?
One of the best ways to increase your local presence is to create and optimize a Google Places page. A place page is a profile of your business that incorporates crucial information such as your business’s phone number, map location, description, address, photos, videos, customer reviews, associated links, and any other information that is necessary for your customers to know.
Why should you have a Google Place Page?
Your customers are out there and are probably trying to find your business, make it easy for them to locate you! A place page shines a spotlight on your business and consolidates all of the important information that customers need or want to know about your company. In addition it also draws in customer reviews and your current reputation from third party sites. Also because a place page is a part of Google they will show your site more love and credibility when searches are performed in the Google search engine.
Establishing a Google place page provides an increase presence when customers perform local searches. For example when a customer searches for a product or service plus a location that your business serves users will receive a page place search result. These results will include the name of your company and the information you provide in your place page account along with a map image of your location. Along with having a Google place page some additional key defining factors that are thought to affect a business’s standing in local searches include:
- Having a business address in the location being searched.
- Volume and quantity of citation links which occur when other sites mention or reference your business across the Internet.
- Quality and quantity of structured and unstructured customer reviews that are from your business place page as well as third party sites.
- Appropriate keyword use in place page title and description. (Avoid overusing keywords)
- Quality, quantity, accuracy, and description of inbound links.
- Velocity of customer reviews or how frequently you are being referenced.
- The number of times that your business appears on other businesses map searches.
- And the photos and videos that you include on your profile page.
How to claim your business and establish a Google place page:
- Visit Google Places and click on the “get started” option.
- Create an account –although it is completely optional Google likes to see users create accounts with emails that match the domain to the website for their business because it increases the trust factor.
- Click on the button that says “List your business”
- Fill in the text fields for country, phone number, company name, street address, city, state, email address, hours of operation, customer payment options, business description, associated links, and your websites URL.
- Fill in the categories, Google offers five input boxes for categories and you should use all five category boxes although Google does not require you to do so. There is really no reason not to take advantage of all the category fields and if you don’t see a category that you want you can create one however it is advised that you use at least one of the ones that are provided.
- Select the service areas by determining a service radius or individually list specific areas that you serve.
- Once you input this information Google will automatically generate a map with your location and will also display all the information that you provided below.
- Add any additional information that you feel is important to convey to your customers.
- Add up to 10 pictures while complying with the Google image submission guidelines.
- Paste and attach any YouTube video URLs that you want to display.
- Click Submit, once submitted Google offers two validation methods the first being a post card which takes a week or two to arrive and provides a pin number to activate the place page. The second option is to receive a phone call that provides the activation code. Although the post card takes longer than the phone call it further builds trust from Google because it confirms that your business is at the location that you specified whereas a phone call would only ensure the correct phone number and not necessarily the location.
- Once you receive and enter the pin number you have claimed your business place page and can update it through the Google Accounts Dashboard. Another detail worth mentioning is that a user can have multiple place pages as long as each of the pages is associated with a different business.
Once you have created a place page for your business you should see your page results when performing a local search. By having a place page and taking into account the factors discussed earlier your business should be able to increase its local presence.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: business, customer, Google, Google Places, local presence, location, place, place page
Posted in Internet, Small Business Tips | No Comments »
Friday, March 25th, 2011
Small businesses are always looking for new ways to increase efficiency and promote productivity. Whether it is through the implementation of new processes or using new and exciting gadgets, the main goals of a business are to find a way to maximize effort, limit costs, and achieve a higher return on their investment (ROI). 
Technology has changed the way many businesses go about their day to day tasks for the better. Not only is technology changing the approach of small businesses but it is making it easier by opening the door to many new opportunities. Taking a look at all the technological gadgets released over the past couple years we have compiled a short list of tools that could potentially benefit a small business.
Advancement is necessary for any business to survive in today’s work environment and remaining stationary for too long will only ensure that they will fall behind their competition. It is best to stay informed with the latest tools and techniques and continually work towards being able to incorporate them in the business to remain productive. Although smart phones and tablet PC’s can be very beneficial we decided to avoid mentioning any on our list of gadgets and tried to focus on gadgets that compliment devices already found in most workplaces. Take a look below at some of the tools we think can boost a company’s performance and see which ones you could benefit from.
iGo Portable Projector:
The iGo Portable Projector is a great tool whether you have to give a presentation to a client, supervisor, or even an in-house team. This projector is pocket sized, making it ideal for an offsite presentation. It works with input A/V, HDMI, USB, and has a 70” display that can be projected on any flat surface. Regular projectors can sell for anywhere between $400 upwards to $2,000 and do not offer the same portability of the iGO Projector. Offered at $299, the iGo Portable Projector is a great way for a business to save money while still being able to keep up with the competition and perform flawless presentations.
VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand Portable Scanner:
The Magic Wand Portable Scanner is just one of the many portable scanners available today and is another great portable resource for small businesses. The portable option allows individuals to scan documents in almost every environment. The Magic Wand scanner has been around for some time now, however coming in June 2011 they plan to release a model that will be able to transfer scans via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth model will allow scans to be sent to a computer or wireless printer. Currently their models only save the scans using a MicroSD card and needs a user to access the provided software in order to interface with the scans. This tool is a great way to conserve paper resources and is available for $99. (No price is currently set for Bluetooth model coming in June)
Belkin In-Desk USB Hub:
Ever run out of USB ports and find yourself unplugging important devices, the In-Desk USB Hub adds four additional USB ports to a user’s computer. Most computers now come equipped with plenty of USB ports however some businesses still have employees that are working with older computer models. Whether it’s because the computer only came with limited ports or if you already have a lot of devices plugged in, the Belkin USB hub adds room for additional resources. The USB Hub fits into the 3” round opening that most desks come equipped which reduces the clutter on your desk while still allowing your computer cords to pass through.
HP PhotoSmart eStation:
The HP PhotoSmart eStation Printer is taking printers to a whole new level. This device offers full web browsing through a detachable 7” handheld monitor that can act as a printer remote or a stand alone portable companion. This great tool incorporates high performance printing, scanning, and copying as well as faxing without a phone line. This unit is completely wireless, conserves less energy and resources through double side printing, and allows web printing without accessing your computer. The eStation offers a unique tablet PC experience plus all of the printing capability at about $299.
DYMO Label and Postage Printer:
With the LabelWriter 450 Twin Turbo Dual Roll Label and Postage Printer you can print up to 71 labels per minute and it a great option for any business that has to do a lot of mailing. The software service used for the postage printer is provided by Endicia which is a licensed USPS Postage provider. This gadget is a great way to save time as well as money for ink and toner.
These are just some of the many devices out there that can potentially greatly benefit your company. Some of the other devices we considered were the APC SmartUPS Uninterruptable Power Supply, Staples 15-Sheet Micro-Cut Shredder, Xerox Business Card Scanner, Square Mobile Credit Card Reader, and the Logitech Webcam C905.
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: business, Computer, device, gadgets, portable, promote productivity, Small Business, tech, tools
Posted in Business Tools, Small Business Tips | No Comments »
|
