Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Indecision Cripples Productivity | Small Business Odyssey

Is Indecision Crippling Your Productivity?

indecision - tapping pencil

Indecision has a major impact on productivity – in fact, it can cripple your productivity.  When you are undecided, your cannot focus or gain momentum in a particular direction.  You spend all your energy on the decision process rather than taking action.

Many things get in the road of our productivity but indecision can have us going around in circles. When we are unable to decide on a goal or focus we are robbing ourselves of energy and consequent productivity. The tapping pencil symbolizes the uncertainty and inaction associated with indecision.

There are many decision making tools available to help you out so that you can overcome the negative effects of indecision. One of the simplest of these is the pros/cons or benefits/costs comparison of alternatives. This is best done with at least one other person otherwise you may stay in the rut and overlook some of the real differences between the alternatives. Our own biases and past experiences influence our perception of things, so it is worthwhile having someone else challenge our assumptions to get a more accurate assessment of alternatives. For more on how to improve productivity, sign up to my free e-course:
http://www.how-to-be-productive.com

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Thursday, February 02, 2012

How to be Productive : Overcoming Your fears

how to be productive

How To Be Productive: The Internal Challenges

If you are a small business owner engaged in small business marketing, it is absolutely critical that you learn how to be productive. There are many demands on your time through email and phone communications, staff management, stock control, product and service development, accounting and taxation, relationship building with clients and strategic planning – to [...]

This post on my small business marketing blog looks at identifying the fears that prevent you from improving your productivity as a small business owner, Internet marketer, affiliate marketer or work at home mum.

It discusses the core fears that prevent people from learning how to be productive. It also introduces a free e-course on improving productivity:
http://www.how-to-be-productive.com/

Finally, it includes an audio introduction to my new membership course on how to be productive:
http://www.how-to-be-productive.com/join

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Impacts of Google+ Integration with Search Engine Results | Small Business Odyssey

Google is Integrating Google+ With Search Engine Results

google+ concentric circles

Google is changing the whole landscape of Internet search through integration of Google+ with organic and paid search results.

A number of prominent Internet marketers have reported recently that they are seeing this integration of Google+ in the search results and have screenshots to prove it.  Mike Brooks, for example, shows a screenshot where a number of paid search results are shown above the organic search results, but on the right hand side are the results from Google+:

This change by Google to give prominence to its new social network, Google+, has major implications for small business marketing and affiliate marketing. As Bill Guthrie points out, 'Google+ is now mandatory'. If you are not in Google+, you will see your search engine results decline because Google's latest move changes the face of SEO. In this blog post, I explore the implications for small business marketing and offer suggestions about how to take advantage of Google+ and its future integration into search engine results. I also propose a new way of looking at Internet marketing which is illustrated by the image above. This particular post is one of a series of posts on Google Plus..

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Small Business Marketing Through the Squidoo Search Engine | Small Business Odyssey

Squidoo is a Search Engine!: Implications for Small Business Marketing

squidoo - search engine

Squidoo is a search engine in its own right with other 2.5 Million lenses focused on key topic areas.   Even experienced lensmasters tend to forget this aspect of Squidoo.

As Squidoo grows so does its data base of information.  So if you are searching for information on specific topics, you will increasingly find quality, focused information by searching Squidoo.

It's often easy to overlook the fact that Squidoo is a search engine in its own right as well as a marketing platform. One of the drivers behind the development of Squidoo was the desire to produce quality search results. So if you search on a topic on the site, you should come up with some quality information rather than a list of ads or lots of post lifted from elsewhere.

Squidoo has introduced an Originality Pact to reinforce their desire to have lensmasters produce quality, unique content that readers will value. In fact, in these days of Google's algorith changes, originality will be the key to survival of Squidoo and other related sites.

The implication for small business marketing is that the quality of you lenses brands you and your small business. You are branded by other lensmasters, by Google and Squidoo itself - in other words you are given a "value" in the eyes of these stakeholders. If you want people to return to your lenses and visit other Squidoo lenses of yours, you need quality and originality. In a previous blog post, I spoke of the ways you can market your small business on Squidoo and develop lenses with these desired qualities.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Saturday, January 07, 2012

The Many Ways to Market Your Small Business on Squidoo | Small Business Odyssey

The Many Ways to Market Your Small Business on Squidoo

Merit Solutions Australia

 Squidoo, as a multimedia platform, offers many ways to engage in small business marketing.  You are really only limited by your imagination so it is well worthwhile visiting Squidoo to see how other lensmasters market their small businesses.

Discusses key ways to market your small business on Squidoo. Explains how to start by building your personal profile on Squidoo and then by telling the story of your small business with appropriate images and illustrations. Moves onto explaining how to create a Squidoo lens about your overall product /service offerings and then how to create lenses for individual products or services. Two other key ways are explained - introducing your staff in a lens and developing lenses about the local area of your business. The blog post provides examples and illustrations and shows what modules are best suited for each purpose discussed. This is a comprehensive post about your options for small business marketing on Squidoo.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Outsourcing: Have You Explored In Sourcing as an Option? | Small Business Odyssey

Is Outsourcing the Right Option or Should You In Source?

 

Small business owners frequently turn to outsourcing instead of in sourcing for their online small business marketing.  However, it has been my experience that in sourcing is a great option.

Have you considered what your staff or sub-contractors are capable of doing in terms of marketing your small business online?  

Everywhere we are encouraged to outsource our online activity to increase our productivity. Have you thought of insourcing as an alternative to outsourcing for your small business marketing? The benefits of insourcing over outsourcing are many (besides saving you money). You may find that your staff have hidden talents that you can employ not only for small business marketing, but also in other arenas of your business.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Friday, December 16, 2011

Marketing Style: How Do You Market Your Small Buiness? | Small Business Odyssey

What is Your Marketing Style?

Small Business Marketing StyleAre you aware of the marketing style that you use in promoting your small business?   Developing a consistent and congruent marketing style is one aspect of effective business branding.

This point was brought home to me by Nancy Marmolejo, a visibility expert, who teaches small business owners to “step into the spotlignht”  by understanding and developing their preferred marketing style.  She suggests that if you use trial and error to develop your style it will cost you time, money and effectiveness.   Your marketing style is what you use to persuade people to take action (basically, your influencing style)

Nancy Marmlejo introduces us to three styles of marketing that people tend to adopt. Do you know your own marketing style? I think these styles tend to line up with personality differences and associated influencing styles. The trap is to copy someone else's style without thinking. Have you ever wanted to "follow" some guru but felt uncomfortable with their marketing approach? Nancy's core message is to stay true to your own marketing style and you will tend to attract the people you want to attract. If you mindlessly adopt the marketing style of someone else, you can easily deter your own target audience. This is particularly true for marketers offering coaching or consulting but has general application across the board.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Social Bookmarking: Marketing Small Business through RedGage | Small Business Odyssey

RedGage: Social Bookmarking with a Difference

RedGage Social Bookmarking

 

Social Bookmarking is designed to create online bookmarks that store information about your small business.

Sites that provide social bookmarking often have a high Page Rank with Google so information bookmarked on these sites can provide quality backlinks to your own small business website/blog.  This, in turn, increases the value of your own site in the “eyes” of Google.

RedGage is a social bookmarking site with a difference:

RedGage offers social bookmarking in the form of images, videos, links and a unique blogging platform. One of the distinct advantages of this social bookmarking site is that it encourages cross-posting - using various forms of bookmarking to promote the one article or blog post.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Posterous Alexa Ranking and Demogrpahics

Meritsolutions_-_shortlistings
      I was just checking the Alexa ranking for Posterous this morning and found the following information:
 
Traffic ranking globally:       506
Traffic ranking US              453
Traffic ranking UK              349
 
Compared to the general Internet population, the site appeals to people who have graduate education, browse from work and have no children.  Additionally, age groups 25-34 and 35-44 are over-represented on Posterous and over 65's are greatly under-represented.
 
Ron Passfield
Brisbane Australia

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Sunday, November 06, 2011

How to Create Quality Backlinks for Small Business Websites | Small Business Odyssey

Backlinks: To Buy or Not to Buy, That is the Question!


 

Backlinks are one of the core measures that Google uses to evaluate a small business website/blog and determine where the site will appear in search engine results. 

Unfortunately, many small business owners have been convinced by some Internet marketers to buy links to build up the ranking of their websites.

Internet marketers are reporting that Google is on the warpath over artificially created backlinks. Some websites have been sandboxed by Google where the owners have bought numerous links, others have been removed from the search engine results (SERPs). This post discusses the issues.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

smallbusinessodyssey.com - Part 2

Social Media: Where Are Your Customers Conversing?

Yosemite Valley

 

With the growth of social media, small business owners face new challenges in terms of locating their clients/customers.  Added to this is the fact that recent estimates show that 80% of people who have access to the Internet start their search via the Web, not via printed media (e.g. Yellow Pages or newspapers).

Discusses the importance of knowing what social media your small business customers are using and knowing how to locate them and connect with them. The blog post stresses the importance of participating in the online conversation.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Turn Photos into Animated Music Videos

Turn Photos into Video to Promote Your Small Business

 

One of the easiest ways to market your small business is to turn your photos into video.  You must have lots of photos lying around that you can use for this purpose.  However, if you want to make the most of this highly effective marketing option, you can be more deliberate about what photos you take and the videos you create.

Here I discuss how to use Animoto to turn your photos into videos for the purpose of business marketing. The steps are simple but the results can be quite stunning:
http://animoto.com/?ref=tzolcekr

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Friday, October 28, 2011

Check Your Business Listing in Local Business Directories | smallbusinessodyssey.com

Are Your Listings in Local Business Directories Accurate?


I was checking the search results for my business name, Merit Solutions Australia, in Google and was surprised with the results from local business directories.

A lot of the entries in the first two pages of Google results were listings from local business directories.

These directories create business listings (much like Google and Facebook have done recently) by scraping content from the Internet.  The only problem with the local business directories, as I found, is that a lot of the information is incorrect (because it is out of date).

While it is great to have your small business automatically listed on Local Business Directories, one of the problems is that the information is often inaccurate and this can be a real problem when people are searching on your business name. This blog post looks at the impact of the local business listings and what to do about them.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

smallbusinessodyssey.com - Part 2

Small Business Marketing: A Personal Odyssey

Human Resource Consultancy

Our small business was created in 1996 and following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008, we found that we had to become actively engaged in online small business marketing.

Up until the GFC, our gross income had been growing at around 20% per year and we did not have to actively market our small business.  Most business arrived by word of mouth through the professional services provided by our HR consultants.

However, with the GFC, our business income dropped by 50% in six months.  So we had to look at ways to improve the income from our small business.

This is the post that launched my new blog, http://www.smallbusinessodyssey.com

I am sharing my journey into online marketing of my offline small business. I'll share the strategies and tactics I use in day-to-day marketing of our business:
http://www.meritsolutions.com.au

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Google Plus and Google +1



Google has recently started to change the Search Engine landscape,
partly as a response to Facebook.

Google is in the process of a fundamental paradigm change:
  • from content to people
  • from "page rank" to "author rank"
Google has established its own social network in the form
of Google Plus which is only open by invitation at the moment
(ask your friends or contacts for an invitation!).

It has also introduced the concept of "author rank" via the +1
buttons that you see proliferating the Internet.  This rating
scheme operates similar to Facebook "likes", although it
has more powerful effects.

You will soon start noticing members of your Google Plus "circles"
appearing in your search results because they have indicated
a +1 rating for the relevant search result.

Author thumbnails will also appear in the right hand column of searchresults where the author is part of your circle and has indicated
(by coding) that they are a real person and the actual author of the
content.

The impacts of the new Google Plus and Google +1 are explained
in these resources:

Ed Dale Video - The Google Revolution That Changes Everything

Michelle MacPhearson - Getting Your Thumbnail in Google's Search Results

Ryan Malone - Google Author Markup Tutorial


The best how-to training resource I have come across so
far is listed below (not an affiliate link):


****************************************************

Ron Passfield, PhD, Giant Squid100, Co-Founder of Wizzley
and Director of Merit Solutions Australia.



Friday, June 03, 2011

Wizzley: A Writers' Community Launches




Wizzley, a new writers' community, has been in public launch for just over a week.

There are now over 350 authors and more than 350 original articles.

Wizzley is an article site with the option to add images and video and
other modules to enrich the article content.

There is a strong emphasis on quality with the minimum requirement
of 400 words per article.  The site has inbuilt duplicate content checks
to ensure the originality of the content.

Wizzley is very much a community so members contribute to the
community as well as write articles.  Community contributions are by
way of forum posts, commenting on articles and contributing to
improvements of the site.

The Wizzley community is a dynamic group of writers who respect
each other and collaborate in the process of creating a great site
and building each others confidence and competence as a writer.

Wizzley members can earn revenue from direct affiliate links as well
as from the following income modules:
  • Adsense
  • Amazon
  • Allposters
  • Zazzle
Revenue from these four modules is shared on an impression basis -
50% of impressions will show the author's affiliate ID and the other
50% will show Wizzley's affiliate ID.

You can also earn income from referrals - 10% of the impressions
from referrals' articles will show your affiliate ID's (for life). This
share comes off Wizzley's 50%, not your referral's.

Wizzley's Alexa rank at the time of writing is:
  • US   -   17,511
  • Germany  -  9,418
  • Global   - 135,953

Come and join us at Wizzley - the fun, fast and friendly site for authors.

 




Wednesday, May 18, 2011

YouTube - Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks

Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks

Social networks shape our thinking, our lives and our actions.
They are arenas of influence. Nicholas Christakis in this video
presentation shows how social networks can explain the growth
of philanthropy, obesity and drug use.

His visual presentation of the forming and re-forming of a
social network over 15 years is stimulating and enlightening
It will change your perspective of social networks and
their power for creating good in the world.

Nicholas maintains that social networking is embedded
in our genes and that one only has to look at our offline
social networks to confirm this.

The question for us as business owners and online
marketers is. "How are we going to use these arenas
of influence?" Will the world be a better place as a result
of our actions on Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, RedGage
and other social networking sites?

 

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Traffic Dashboard Review: structured guide to traffic generation



Marlon Sanders has just released his Traffic Dashboard
which gives you 16 ways to generate traffic to your
website, blog or Squidoo lens.

The rows in the Dashboard represent 6 broad traffic
sources:
  • article marketing
  • search engine optimization
  • social media marketing
  • banner ad marketing
  • email marketing (incl. solo ads)
  • affiliate marketing (for your own product)
I purchased the system after very strong support
for the product in the Warrior's Forum.

The whole system is designed as a point-and-click
access point with each icon representing a source
of traffic or another step in an already introduced
traffic source.

For example, the first row of the dashboard discusses
article marketing. Each of the icons in this row
provide a stage in the process in the form of
detailed step-by-step instructions. Icons cover
keyword research, writing the article, the resource
box, landing page, submission and editing and
outsourcing. Each stage is illustrated with
screen shots and examples.

The social media row of Traffic Dashboard is
different in terms of the level of detail provided.
This row, for example, covers Facebook Ads,
YouTube, Video Sites, Squidoo Lenses,
The Epiphany and Images. ["The Epiphany"
is Marlon's personal insight into how to really
generate traffic.]

Thus the level of detail for social networking
in the social media row is a long way from the depth
and comprehensiveness of my SquidooRoo Program.

However, Marlon does provide an easy entry point
for someone who is not used to using some of these
aspects.

There is something in Traffic Dashboard for both the
newbie and the advanced.  I know I certainly learned
some things on my first run through.

Strengths of Traffic Dashboard
  • range of areas covered
  • step-by-step process
  • very well illustrated
  • motivational (encourages you to "have a go")
  • builds confidence as you master each step
  • strong support for newbies
  • introduces some new approaches to generating traffic
  • "The Epiphany" - worth the cost of the product.
 Weaknesses of Traffic Dashboard
  • product tries to cover both newbies and advanced
  • some areas (such as social media) are not comprehensive
  • the depth across topics varies considerably
  • the Squidoo instructions are inadequate
I mention the last point specifically in the light of the
Google Algorith Change and Squidoo's response.
Squidoo is now putting a lot more emphasis on
original content and lenses that lack original content
(that were tolerated before) will now be locked.
Traffic Dashboard does not make this point
clear.

Despite some of it's limitations, Traffic Dashboard has
some real merits.  If you are a relative newbie, or at the
intermediate level of Internet marketing, it has a lot
to offer through its systematic approach and
step-by-step instructions.  More advanced Internet
marketers may find that they are already doing
60% of what is covered (and more besides).
However, there is very real value in "The
Epithany" which shows you how to leverage your
content creation.

Check out this product - it may be just what you
need to introduce some system and discipline to
your marketing efforts:
Traffic Dashboard

*****************************************
Ron Passfield, PhD, is the creator of SquidooRoo.com,
a 24 weeks (6 months) training program in
social media marketing which covers content creation,
promotion and social networking including Facebook,
Twitter, Squidoo, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube, and
RedGage.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

3 Things That Can Block Your Motivation


In this audio I discuss three things that
can get in the road of your motivation at
work or with your online activity or, more
specifically, with your social media marketing.

These barriers to motivation are:
  1. your mindset
  2. your comfort zone
  3. your past experiences
The audio discusses how these things dampen
your motivation.

In the my Social Media Training Program, I
address these issues and encourage you to
change your mindset, go beyond the limitations
of your comfort zone and to break free
of the constraints of past experiences.

The SquidooRoo program is as much about
your inner journey as it is about the mechanics
of social media marketing.

In this training program in social media marketing,
I explore multiple ways to improve motivation
and increase your productivity.

Why not join us on this learning journey
and find your true motivation and capacity?

Related Resource:

http://www.squidoo.com/WonderfulWizardofOz

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Facebook Changes: New iFrame Facebook Pages


Facebook will be replacing FBML Facebook Pages
(Facebook Markup Language) with the new
iFrame Facebook Page with effect from 11 March 2011.

You will no longer be able to use FBML to build your Facebook
pages.  You will have to host your own Facebook Pages.

This means that you will have to learn about iFrames and get access
to some templates to speed up the process of making
Facebook Pages for yourself and/or your clients.

The iFrame Pages will be more powerful but there are less guides,
templates and software available to assist you with this process.
However, if you want to make Facebook Pages in the future, you
will not have any choice as you will have to use iFrames.

Daniel Tan and Phil Benham have come up with a great solution
to the new iFrame Facebook pages.  FBMaxed gives you:

  • Three (3) HTML 5 cusomizable Facebook iFrame templates*
  • Step-by-step video instructions
  • Recorded video webinars (downloadable)
  • Email support
* Optimized for Mobile

The templates incorporate the "reveal" function - the "reward" page
is revealed only after the reader "Likes" the page.  You have the
option of displaying an alternative page for those who don't "like"
the landing page.

The new iFrames Facebook pages can hold video and
lead capture opt-ins. You can show full websites with or without
the reveal option.  So this is what you can have on your Facebook
Page:

  • Multiple pages on one Facebook Page
  • PHP email contact forms
  • HTML5 videos.
  • Photo galleries
  • Extended Facebook Pages (3000 pixels)
  • Lead capture opt-ins
  • Sales pages & Landing pages
  • Reveal Splash pages

Daniel Tan has provided a wide range of great products and even
Traci Gregory, who has developed her own iFrames application,
recommends Daniels's FBMaxed as easier and more flexible.


P.S. There will be webinars every few days for people who purchase
this product with Q & A sessions included. - so heaps of support.

****************************************************

Ron Passfield, PhD, is the creator of SquidooRoo.com,
a 24 weeks (6 months) training program in
social media marketing which covers content creation,
promotion and social networking including Facebook.