Archive for Technology
How I Cleaned Up My Inbox and Learned to Love RSS
Posted by: | Comments
Recently I had become frustrated with my management – or rather lack of management – of my email inbox.
As a business owner, a blogger, and an information junkie, I often scour the internet looking for information that will help me run my business or help me help my clients and readers run theirs. When I found something interesting I would usually be offered an invitation to subscribe to an email newsletter or blog feed via email. I usually accepted that offer.
While this had the benefit of keeping me informed about new content, it had a very big downside. My inbox was getting filled with emails that were not written for me alone. I was getting hundreds of emails a day. Emails that required a response or an action from me were getting lost in the noise.
To solve that problem I gradually started switching all my subscriptions to my Gmail account. This helped at first because it did start clearing up my inbox. But that wasn’t really working either. First of all, now I had two places to access mail. To access my Gmail account I had to log in and read it from my web browser. It just wasn’t a part of my daily routine, so I wasn’t logging in.
This led to a new problem. Because I wasn’t logging into my Gmail account regularly, I started re-subscribing with my main email address to feeds and newsletters that were very important to me. Now I was getting them in two places. Arrrrrrrrrgh!
Next I tried RSS. RSS is that little orange button you see in the upper left of this blog. If you subscribe using that button and use a feed reader (which is how you access your RSS subscriptions) you get updated whenever I write a new blog post. No more inbox.
The problem with that is Read More→
My Computer is Dead! Don’t Let this Happen To You
Posted by: | CommentsLast Friday, after about seven hours on the phone with tech support, it was determined that while my laptop wasn’t quite dead yet, it was well on the way. And couldn’t be brought back to life without some major repairs: a new motherboard, memory and whatever else isn’t working.
On the plus side, this was three weeks BEFORE my warranty ran out. When was the last time you ever heard of that happening? I thought they were designed to break three weeks after! Not only that, but about a month ago I had purchased an external hard drive and had been backing up my data. I should have everything I need.
The downside is by the time I send the laptop off to Dell, they fix it and send it back, it will have been at least two weeks. I can’t run my business without a computer for that long.
As a result, Friday was one of the most stressful days I’ve had in a long time. By the end of my marathon session with tech support, my brains were melting out of my ears. All I was good for was having a nice glass of red and watching truly mindless t.v. Anything with a plot was beyond me.
I didn’t want to go out and buy a new computer; I’d have my old one back probably better than new in a few weeks. Not to mention I had not budgeted for a major purchase right now.
Guess all my brains hadn’t leaked out my ears because Read More→
Using Google to Market Your Business Part 4: Google Keyword tool
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 2: Google Analytics
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 4: Google Keyword tool
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube
When it comes to marketing your business, there’s no better way than turning up in the top search results on Google. Since more and more people are using search engines rather than the phone book to locate business (even local businesses) you’d better make sure people can find you.
To get found, you need a plan to optimize your website so the search engines bring your website up first. This process is known as search engine optimization (SEO). Some of the basics of SEO include:
- Having search engine friendly URLs. For example: www.mywebsite.com/rosesforsale instead of www.mywebsite.com/index.php?forumid�%. Not only are these URLs more search engine friendly, they’re more people friendly.
- Using appropriate keywords in the friendly URLs, as well as in the header of your page and within the body copy.
- Getting incoming links, particularly from relevant websites. For example a florist would do better getting links from a wedding planner or interior designer than from a mechanic.
- Having a sitemap
However, if you are a small business competing against hundreds or thousands of other businesses Read More→
Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 2: Google Analytics
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 4: Google Keyword tool
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube
YouTube is now owned by Google so this is yet another way to use Google as a marketing vehicle. With over 100 million U.S. viewers of YouTube (never mind the rest of the world) as of January 2009, clearly YouTube is a way to reach a large number of people.
Why should you add YouTube videos to your marketing plan?
SEO
First, search engines are starting to rank video higher than longer articles and blog posts. If you’ve used good keywords in your title and meta tags, your video is more likely to get found by Google and other search engines. Additionally, since you can include a link to your own website, you can further increase the ranking of your site by adding videos to YouTube.
More Clicks
Our eyes naturally go to photos. If your video shows up in a search someone does on Google, the thumbnail of your video is more likely to catch their eye and get clicked than a text only result. This means more traffic for you.
Link Bait
Good videos are “link bait”. YouTube automatically includes a link for views to use to add to their website. If you provide interesting or useful content it is more likely someone will add your video to their website, increasing the number of people who see and hear your message.
You’ll be cutting edge
Even though people are moving to YouTube in droves, the majority of small businesses haven’t tried it yet. If you start using video online today, there’s a good chance you’ll be one of the first ones in your industry to do so. You’ll be seen as cutting edge or just reach people your non-YouTube competitors don’t.
Works well with other social media sites
Social media sites like Facebook are designed to work with YouTube. You can easily and quickly import your YouTube videos and get double duty. Even if someone has never used YouTube before, they can still watch your content.
The rule of seven
YouTube was made for the Rule of Seven. I’ve said it before: people like to do business with those they know, like and trust. And getting to know, like and trust you takes time – at least seven contacts with your marketing message. Video is a great way to let people get to know you: they can see your face and hear your voice. You’re no longer an anonymous entity online but a living, breathing person. If you combine that with interesting and helpful information, video can speed up the process of getting people to feel comfortable enough with you to be willing to open their wallets and purchase your products or services.
Tips for creating a good video
I’m not a videographer so I’m not going to give you tips on how to actually use a video camera. If you need help there, hire someone or find a teenager who knows what she’s doing.
However, there are some tips I can give you to get better results.
- It doesn’t have to be perfect. While you don’t what to look completely unprofessional, if your video is too polished viewers may feel like they’re viewing a commercial. Sometimes a slightly homemade quality to the video can make your message more authentic.
- The average YouTube viewer spends 2.5 to 3 minutes per video. Keep your video in that range and you’ll likely get more viewers.
- Dress professionally. I know I said a homemade quality may sound authentic but that doesn’t mean I think you should create your videos in your pajamas. Unless your personal and business brand is very quirky, dress how you would if you were meeting clients. Clean up your office – if that’s where you’re shooting.
- Provide good, useful content. People don’t want a sales pitch. The best format is to talk about a problem your customers have and give them tips on how to solve it.
- Don’t forget a subtle sales pitch. If you’ve given useful information, end your video with a soft sell. Include your website address and some sort of call to action – what do you want the viewer to do next. An ideal call to action is send them to a place on your website where they can get more information.
If you haven’t started using video yet, now might be the time to give it a try. Go to YouTube, see how others are viewing the site, get out your video camera and give it a try.
Andrea J. Stenberg
Are you using video and YouTube to market your business? Let us know how it works by leaving a comment. Also, if you know of businesses that are doing a good job with video, leave us links to the best online videos.
