Shocking: Just 13% of the info on Google is actual search results! I bet you thought that if your company built a well structured website embedded with keywords in all the right places that your potential customers would certainly find you in a Google search. After all, you’ve been told that this is key to effectively generating traffic on the Internet, right? Yeah, well now… Not so much. In reality, if you run a search on Google today, you’ll see that only 13% of the information that appears on the
Carpe Failure! “Success may be the kindest teacher, but failure is a very efficient one.” This quote has always stuck with me. How many times have you succeeded at something and then when asked how you did it, you struggled to explain the reasons for your success because, frankly, you weren’t exactly sure. On the other hand, if you were asked to reflect upon a failure and the mistakes you made that contributed to that failure you could probably go on in great detail. We all cringe at the idea
Have you ever struggled to come up with an effective “elevator pitch”? One that you thought really captured who you are and the value you provide without saying too much or being too confusing? As Steve Jobs famously said, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. But sometimes trying to keep it short and sweet can be impossibly difficult. Especially when it comes to describing who we are and why we matter in just a sentence or two. For many people this can be paralyzing. After all, what if we leave out
News Flash: It’s NOT About Balance. So much is made of striking a balance in our lives, whether it’s eating a balanced diet, striving for spiritual balance, or the constant struggle for work/life balance. And yet despite our every effort, are our lives ever really balanced? And is that the end game? The older I get the more I question this need to be “balanced”. Maybe it’s just a rationalization but I can’t help but feel that instead of worrying about balance in our lives we’d be better off focusing
We Gotta Give to Get. The strength, stability and richness of a community is absolutely dependent on each member of the community making a contribution. Each member has to give of themselves for the good of the community. When we hold back for our own advantage we not only weaken the community, we limit our own opportunities for success. The same holds true for businesses, teams, non-profits and families. We gotta give, in order to get. ..This much I know. -Jeanine
We want to watch our favorite TV show when we want, and where we want. We want our purchases delivered to our door the same day we buy them. We want instant gratification. Even in business, we want huge profits and an abundance of customers immediately. Oh, and we want all that while working just four hours a week. It’s this kind of thinking that leads a lot of small businesses to consider marketing that casts a wide net by broadcasting a message to a large audience quickly. Sure it can be
“Don’t Take it Personally.” That is always easier said than done, don’t you think? Whenever someone ignores us, criticizes our work, or leaves us for a competitor, it sucks. And it feels personal. Even when we know intellectually that, “its just business.” The truth is though; you shouldn’t take it personally, because it’s not about you. It’s about them. It’s about what they (think they) want. It’s about what’s going on in their lives. it’s about their issues, motives or agenda. Do your best work. Give your customers the best
On Selling Bananas to Monkeys and Other Business Start-Up Tips. I’m sure you’d agree that it’s much easier to sell a banana to a monkey than it would be to try to convince a fish that bananas are delicious and they ought to eat them. Perhaps it could be done, but it sure would be time consuming and expensive. The same holds true for starting a business. Though, you’d be amazed by how many businesses have been created by super smart people with a naïve notion that the shear awesomeness
Sometimes, Even When It’s Not Broke, You Ought To Consider Fixing It. I know everything seems to be working fine. This isn’t a good time. There are a million other things your business needs to deal with first and besides, no one is complaining about the existing product or service. So why would you need to think about making a change? Given today’s uber competitive marketplace, you always need to be mindful that your customers are just one click away from the things they want when they want them. It’s
Dear Small Business Owner, You’re not PepsiCo so why in the world are you wasting time and money shouting your message from the rooftops? PepsiCo has an annual marketing budget for their drink products alone that is over $1 billion! They can afford to use traditional marketing like print and broadcast media to broadcast their message over and over to a wide audience. They also have the resources and deep pockets to track the effectiveness of these methods. You? Not so much. But that’s ok. You just need to think