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Has Google Put A End To Digg?

Monday, August 18th, 2008

Has Chris Lang discovered the missing link to Google developing their own social bookmarking platform?

Chris claims it wasn’t his prediction that this would come true, it was the visionary Scoblizer , but Mr. Lang has certainly done his due diligence when it comes to the subject matter of Digg & Google and this ongoing social bookmarketing war of who will bring this type of social organization "mainstream" all those "non-IM’ers and non-bloggers" out there.

Would it really be any surprise to see Google do it…?! :)

Because Google Reader (GR) now allows you to add a friends list, sharing, bookmarking, and blog recommendations, Chris believes this is Google’s version of Digg. To get a better idea of what GR can do go visit Chris Lang’s shared items page in Google Reader .

Chris writes,

"Your blog and your Google profile will be ranked by…

The PR, number of subscribers and the rate at which individual posts are shared in the blogs you are reading.

How much you click the feeds, how many items you read, how long you spend on the feed and what items you share.

How many friends you have, how many mutual friends you have and their Google Reader participation.

How many of your friends have your feed in Google Reader, the power of the other feeds in their Reader, how often they read your feed and how often they share it.

How many friends your friends have and their habits within Google Reader that are listed above.

This is the Google version of Digg voting and it cannot be skewed by voting and gaming the algo like Digg can." to read the full post click here .

It really is amazing to be on this ride of discovery with Chris Lang, to be one of the early adopters of watching & participating in Google adding their own social to search. I highly recommend you continue to follow Chris’s discoveries and tests on this subject matter because it could potentially mean a ton of new traffic to your web properties if used correctly. What everyone seems to like so far about this new technology is the fact that is is harder to SPAM, manipulate, and it may just finally assassinate the famous Digg Mafia .

Who knows this may be the final nail in the coffin for Digg …?

Love to hear what you think…? How do you think this will effect online social media landscape…?

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Are the 2008 Olympics Killing Your Business?

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

2008 Olympic Logo

I was out yesterday purchasing new glasses for myself and my wife and I noticed that the shopping centers where very quite. I asked the owner of the Optician Store,Have you been busy today? " and she replied, "No. It’s very quite ever since the Olympics. "

Has your business been quite since 2008-08-08?

What can you do to keep people coming into your business during the Olympics…?

I have created a list of 9 Promotions that could potentially help you ride off the BUZZ of the 2008 Olympics to help drive traffic to your businesses.

  1. If you have a restaurant or bar, rent those BIG screen TV’s and hold specific Olympic parties for your favorite events.
  2. Hold a contest. If ‘such, such athlete’ wins a medal, then you give away something of value to the first customer that comes in and mentions that athlete’s name and medal that they won.
  3. For every Gold Medal your country wins you drop the price by 5-10%.
  4. Create special Olympic themed dishes or drinks.
  5. Offer FREE Delivery during the Olympics.
  6. Donate a percentage of all sales during the Olympics to go towards under privileged athletes.
  7. Give away $5-$20 gift cards to any purchases made during the Olympics.
  8. Get behind your local Olympic Athlete and add decorations and banners to your location cheering them on.
  9. If you are a Beauty Salon offer a special "Waxing" in the spirit of Olympic ’speed and aerodynamics’ like swimmers or cyclists.

It’s not too late!

Jump on the bang wagon and get involved in the spirit of the Olympics!

Tell us what promotions you are using and what promotions you have seen out there that have been great marketing ideas…?


Make Scarcity Work for You

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Supply and demand : these principles are the cornerstone of the free market. At the most basic level it’s not all that hard to understand, but when you’re a business owner navigating the ups and downs of the marketplace it can be a rough ride. In this piece I want to talk about how understanding how scarcity-that is, high demand coupled with a low supply-can work in your favour, and how not to allow scarcity to harm your business.

Scarcity can happen by accident or by choice.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant the first weekend after a five-star review came out? It can be a stressful experience! Usually the place hasn’t had time to prepare by ordering more stock and putting on extra staff in anticipation of the stampede of eager diners. Menu items run out, waiters get confused and flustered; meanwhile people are waiting in the lobby, giving your table dirty looks to try and intimidate you into eating faster.

Sometimes these things can’t be helped. Wouldn’t all owners love to suffer the consequences of a glowing review? Not always.

On the other hand, businesses will often deliberately make products or services scarce. Why?

So, you can use scarcity, carefully limiting the supply of your product to generate interest and raising your product’s profile in the public. In many instances, if done ‘right’ you can also raise your prices. However, I do advise that you always over deliver on any product or service you design with creating "scarcity marketing campaign" which will produce long lasting results and only increase the value of what it is you do even more.

The key to doing this successfully is to appropriately manage the way your limited resource is distributed to your customers. It is crucial that you don’t alienate existing, loyal, repeat customers by making them wait in line with the rest of the masses! Not all customers are created equal, and your high-value customers should not miss out on acquiring your new product just because everyone else wants it. Be sure you award your biggest fans and early adopters with tons of extras that the masses just will not get. This in itself will only make your ‘mavericks’ spread the word even more about your business.

You can use the internet to allow VIP customers to pre-order and bypass the queue.

You have their contact information, right? If not you need to re-design your marketing and database collecting. You MUST always have all your best clients contact info on file at all times and constantly have a on-going communication with them.

Sending a notice to your VIPs offering them this opportunity will enhance their loyalty to you, while the demand created by scarcity will attract new customers. It’s the same way a successful nightclub operates: reward the regulars by allowing them to bypass the line, while making sure there’s always a line-up there so that the passers-by know that this is the hot place to be.

Artfully controlling the supply of your product to generate demand is difficult. If you try it, taking care of the people who matter most, your repeat and higher-spending customers, should be your number one priority.


Don’t Be A Generalist!

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Seth Godin has an interesting post on his blog about specialists vs. generalists . He argues that in today’s world of almost infinite choice, why should anyone settle on hiring a generalist to do a job when one can have access to a specialist in that field. The implication is that the internet has blown away traditional boundaries (such as geography) and thus opened up the marketplace to competition in ways unimaginable in the past. The days of the small-town doctor, for example, who services the whole spectrum of the townspeople’s medical needs, are (or should be) in the past.

Small business often attempt to be a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none.  Rarely do people want a generalist.  They want the brilliant specialist! The reason many small business fall into this category of being a ‘generalist’ is due to the fact the are trying to be all things to all people.  In todays market place it doesn’t often pay to not specialize and then be damn amazing at whatever it is that your business does.

Is your business a ‘generalist’ or ’specialist’…?

Dare to be different! Dare to be brilliant! Or as Seth would say dare to be the ‘Purple Cow ‘!


SEO Means Nothing If Your Site Can’t Convert!

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

All the SEO in the world isn’t going to make a customer actually buy your products, if your site doesn’t motivate potential customers to take that leap and spend their money, and if it doesn’t make the buying process simple, they will surely go elsewhere. One major step that is over look often is usability of a small businesses website. Navigation and sales copy needs to be clear and concise and easy to digest!

Without an effective website, you might as well just post flyers on lamp posts! So forget Search Engine Optimization for the moment-you need to optimize your site to hold onto viewers and drive them to complete the purchase. Where do you begin?

Make your copy make the sale.

The sales copy is the most crucial element of your pitch, so you have to construct it with care. I’ve already discussed how to create powerful headlines that catch the eye, stimulate curiosity to go further, and engage customers’ emotions.

The sales copy itself needs to do much the same, and more. The visitors must be guided through a process that engages and motivates them to keep reading. They must feel that a need they have will be met with your product. This need can be direct ("make more money"; "fix this problem with this tool") or indirect, appealing to psychological and emotional wants and needs. Either way, the visitor’s journey through your text must be streamlined, written with clarity and no wasted words.

Obviously, no-one likes a pushy sales pitch. Be careful to find just that right balance between being assertive and being overly aggressive. Consider potential objections customers might have to buying your product and answer them in a lucid, reasonable manner. Convey a sense of confidence in your product, and don’t insult your customers’ intelligence or come across as manipulative.

"Don’t take my word on it!"

Real, verifiable testimonials will enhance the aura of credibility surrounding your product in ways your own sales pitch cannot do on its own. Testimonials are the online equivalent to good old-fashioned word-of-mouth-the most trustworthy form of (informal) marketing. Especially if your business is a new one, people need to know that they are not throwing their money into uncharted waters.

How to collect testimonials?

Communication with your customers, whether by simply asking for contact information or for their valuable opinions, is an essential element of customer service. Have a feedback option prominently on display on your site. Ask permission from current customers to print testimonials of their positive experiences. Always make sure they agree to use their full name and general location for purposes of authenticity. You can even offer free samples of your goods or services in exchange for useable feedback.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to your customers in this way. If someone has had a positive experience, they are often more than happy to interact with you and contribute back to your business in a small way. The Web has empowered ordinary people to feel they can be participants, not just spectators, in its dynamic changes and vast reservoirs of information.

Make the buying process easy.

Never forget the cardinal rule of online content: keep it simple and to the point! Web surfers have short attention spans and want to get their business done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Your site must be easily navigated, intuitive to the visitor, and structured and presented consistently on every page.

Your customer shouldn’t have to click more than twice to reach the ordering page. Whenever your product is displayed or mentioned, make sure you have a "BUY NOW " button at the ready. And please, please make your order form easy to fill out quickly! The more work customers have to do to buy online, the more likely they just won’t bother.

Look at iTunes. It is almost too easy to buy music from them. Once you have an account set up, all you have to do is click a button and that song is yours in seconds-a song you may have spent hours looking for in a dusty record shop 10 or 15 years ago! Oh look; there’s another song I like-CLICK! And another one-CLICK! Before you know it, you’ve spent $50. You get the message…

The lesson is: if your website is armed with a streamlined, well-presented, stimulating and easy-to-follow sales process from pitch to final purchase, you maximize your chances of turning mere visitors into full-fledged customers!


Standing Out in the Online Local Market

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

Small business owners today know that they need a website to compete. More and more people search the internet to find shops and services in their area before hitting the streets. Having a website is a crucial way to make an impression on potential customers and get the word out, no matter how modest your business.

Many local business owners wonder, however, how useful a website can be on a practical level, and might be leery of investing the time in creating one if they’re not sure what benefits they’d reap. Won’t my business get lost, you may be asking, among the thousands of other sites catering to the same clientele?

Not if you make your site easily searchable for your local customers. The most important immediate goal of your website is to hit the top of the search engines, and this is easily done if you know what your potential customers are searching for and can optimize your site with the right keywords. If you run a small shop or other business that caters to local customers, your only real competition is the other businesses in your area. People searching for your type of business online will be using local search keywords. If I live in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto and want to find a flower shop nearby, I will use "flowers" or "flower shop," "Toronto," and likely "Cabbagetown" in my search. I will not waste my time pulling up hundreds of thousands of flower shops across the globe.

Many businesses are not aware of how to optimize their sites for such searches using location-specific keywords. You can have the competitive edge by knowing this valuable information! And it’s not rocket science-you don’t have to be tech-savvy to make your website work for you!

Google Local - (learn how to use Google Local )

Yahoo Local - (learn how to use Yahoo Local )

Live.com Local - (learn how to use Live.com )

Craigslist

AskCity

Local.com

TrueLocal

AOL’s City Guide

CitySearch

Be sure to get a listing on your local city’s directory, just type in your search engine ‘your city’ then directory an bunch should come up. Remember, making your small local business stand out on the web is easy-if you learn how to think like the search engines do!


Small Business Online Marketing

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Here is what is going on with "Small Business Online Marketing " today in the blogsphere!

  • The Rude and Obnoxious in Online Advertising

    • - With all of the local online advertising techniques available to businesses, we expect those businesses to choose the strategy that works best for their model, their product, and their business culture. …

  • 14 Simple Ways To Drive Massive Traffic To Your Site

    • - Video marketing is going to be one of the most productive marketing tips in the future. It can take time to create videos, but it is worth of it. After you create the video, add it to YouTube and other video sharing sites. …

  • 5 Tips for Driving Qualified Traffic With Online Marketing

    • - Inspiration from friends and family, movies, or even the smooth sounds of the local adult contemporary radio station can be useful. Take this longstanding frustration: Online marketing efforts can sometimes produce an increase in …

First Post!

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Hello, to what I am hoping to be many readers and subscribers in the very near future!

This is my first post and I want to let you know that I have full intentions of providing a remarkable blog that you will want to visit often for all types of fantastic tips and information on how to market your business online. I think we are in a very interesting times where the internet has given the small business owner an opportunity to play on a level playing field with the “Big Boys”.

The internet is quickly becoming the #1 resource for consumers who are seeking products, services and purchase information. Having an online presence is and will continue to be an essential aspect to ALL small businesses and their marketing efforts.

I guarantee any entrepreneur that has an open mind and starts to get involved in the Web 2.0 communities online will quickly see the benefits and unlimited potential of the internet for their local small businesses.

I welcome you to a new era - the era of social revolution!  I will encourage all small business owners to harness the power of creating positive relationships with niche communities online, which will enable them to leave a digital trail that will help feed and grow their businesses larger then they ever imagined by participating actively in the social revolution.

I am very excited and look forward to contributing to this blog!

Here’s to being remarkable entrepreneurs!

Sincerely,

Matthew Hunt