Wyoming Entrepreneur Blog

With All of the Abilities of Social Media Are Websites Necessary?

Social media has exploded over the past several years.  In a listing dated August 17, 2011 showing the most popular websites, Facebook at number two is only topped by Google.  YouTube is third, Twitter ninth, Linkedin is 13th and WordPress 18th.  I’m pretty sure that our WyEn.biz isn’t in the top 1,000 and I guess that yours is not either.  So why maintain a website in the face of the barrage of social media?

The reason is simple.  Handling all of the options available to market your business on-line is a huge challenge.  Customers are faced with an absolute deluge of information and data, and if you want to help them, they need a central location to go to act on the interest that all of the social media efforts you may be doing has generated.  Social media is changing rapidly and social media sites come and go.  Your website can be a source of stability for both you and your customers.  Your website is where customers go when they want to get detailed information about your products and services.

Another reason to maintain your site is that YOU control the content.  Social media by its very nature is uncontrolled and you can present the story you want customers to read and address any problems on your terms.  This doesn’t mean that people won’t look you up and confirm your information on social media sites, but it does mean that in at least one area you can manage the discussion.
A final reason to keep your website is to avoid limitations.  Facebook, Linkedin and MySpace can all have e-commerce tools added in.  However, these tend to be limited in terms of layouts, size and content.  With your website, you can tell your story your way and be much more creative and unique.

In today’s world social media is a vital part of the marketing mix for any business, but don’t neglect your homebase – your website!

Are you using social media in conjunction with your website?  Have you decided to eliminate your website altogether?  If so how is it working?

Website Linking Strategies

 

Website linking strategies require attention if you are trying to increase your visibility on the internet.  They are often misunderstood so some clarification is needed.  

There are two types of linking strategies, internal and external.  Internal links are the navigation links that allow users to navigate through your site.  They are also the live links to your site map, articles and tables that are within your site.  The often neglected internal links are picked up by search engines (as are external links) and will help to increase your visibility.

External links are of two kinds.  They are the links from your site to other sites and they are also the links leading back to your website from other sites.  Links from your site to other sites are not so important.  What is important is having links to your website on other sites.  This is what drives traffic to your site.  Link popularity is critical because it gives searchers different ways of getting to your site.  It is like having several “back doors” to your web pages instead of relying just on your URL and business name to get people to your site.  Having your URL on other websites also gives search engines different ways of indexing you, thus increasing your visibility. 

The quality of these links is more important than the quantity.  When selecting sites to which you want to be linked, choose ones that not only get lots of traffic, but are credible sites.  The stronger these “backlinks” to your site are, the better your site will look to indexing bots. 

One way to increase your link popularity is to put your site on reputable search engine and business directories.  Another is to have organizations or associations that are related to your business link to you.  Many associations have member lists that are live links so think about joining associations to get traffic.  Does your large national supplier have live links to distributors on their website?  How about your local chamber or tourist bureau?  Organizations like these generally get lots of traffic so if you were listed on their websites, it could increase your traffic.  As an aside, most chamber websites have business directories but not all have live links to member businesses.  If your chamber does not provide live links, suggest it to them.
Here is the link to a free online link popularity checker so you can see which websites Google, Bing and Yahoo are picking up as backlinks to your site.
http://www.linkpopularity.com/

 

Boring Website? Try Running it Like a Magazine!

One of the things we hear frequently at the Market Research Center is that a company's website is not generating the traffic that the owners would like.  If this fits your situation, one of the first things you need to do is to make sure that your site is being indexed by search engines.  The Market Research Center offers a free web optimization service that provides a report on how well your site functions, how visible it is to search engines and gives advise on how to improve.  If you would like to take advantage of this service contact me at [email protected]

However, once you’ve optimized your website, you still may not get the number of visitors that you want.  Many times the problem is content.  Ken Gordon, writing on MarketingProfs.com, suggests that many company websites are “incredibly, absurdly, infuriatingly dull.”  A boring site is one that doesn’t get many visitors.  His suggestion to avoid website doldrums?  Run your website like it is a magazine.   Try some of the following ideas:

1. Feature Stories.  These are the main attraction and have content that relates to your website and to what your customers want to know.  If you have exclusive content that is of value, then your website will tend to thrive.

2. “Front of the Book” section.  These are the short articles that tend to be at the front of magazines.  Highlight a new trend, a new product or service.  Make the articles short and fun.

3. Service Pieces.  These are articles that give things like “the five best ways to start a stalled engine”, “10 ways to save $15”, etc.  These need to relate to your company, but can be a great way to make people interested in your content.

4. News.  Include journalism on your site!  Stories should be fresh and should address the “who, what, where, when and why” of an issue.  Interview people, but be even-handed and fair.  By providing true news you can become a trusted source.

5. Opinion.  Go ahead a give your opinion.  Typically this is done on your blog.  Here you can say what you think.  However, it’s always best to make sure that you offer a forum to opposing views.  By doing so, you increase the discussion and relevance of your site.

6. Humor.  Humor is hard work, but if done properly can be great.  If you have someone who is naturally funny…put them to work.

Don’t be afraid to experiment.  With your website run like a magazine, you can add and remove departments, try new types of features and experiment.  Eventually you will end up with content your customers love and that they’ll recommend to their friends.

What do you think of this idea?  Do you do anything like this with your website?

Creative Entrepreneurs

A friend asks me, “I design and sell jewelry, do I really need a business plan? I have tried several times to write one, but can’t get past the first sentence.” This is a timely question as I am currently reading a book by Lisa Sonora Beam The Creative Entrepreneur.

Beam defines creative entrepreneurs in this way: “…the person inclined to do work that is their own expression. I believe everyone has creative gifts, but what I mean here is the creatively oriented personality.” Beam uses a process called “visual journaling” to make business ideas real. This is a creative process to write a business plan (my words) in a manner that makes sense to you.

Business plans are very important and simply put--a business plan is a road map of where you want to go and how you will get there. Writing a business plan is hard enough, but for the right-brained entrepreneur, it may be especially difficult.

Who says that business plans have to be black & white! They can be in color, they can have expressive pictures, they can be a collage of pictures, they can be a pictorial map, and they could even utilize stickers or three dimensional objects. They could even be worn (I have been asked to create my business plan on a jacket)! Very untraditional formats, yes! But, I believe it is more important to have a plan of some kind, than none at all. However you choose to write your business plan, approach it in a manner that excites you to work on your business.

There are several communities or networks for creative individuals hosted on social media sites. They provide support and endless networking opportunities. I have listed just a few, (too many to list here):

Beam’s website: http://www.The Creative Entrepreneur.biz 

A couple of groups on ning: http://creativecrossing.ning.com/ & http://artisanjewelrydesigners.ning.com/

Creativity Champions, a group on Linkedin http://www.myartspace.com/.

Do you belong to an artist community or network online or a have a favorite website or blog to recommend? Tell us about it!

Tough Market Conditions Present Opportunities to Build Infrastructure

As a former [read as: reformed] banker, I find that a majority of my friends are either bankers, portfolio managers, or business service providers.  Perhaps that is because of the propensity to see these same individuals at the golf courses and other "social networking" venues I still frequent.  Whatever the case, my current responsibilities as a business counselor and legal specialist with WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz makes for a synergistic partnership with these colleagues.

So on the frequent occasions I have to visit with these "finger-on-the-pulse-of-the-economy" friends of mine, I always ask them, "What should I be telling my business clients to do in this economy"?  The resounding response is: "Grow!"

Now, "Grow!" can mean a lot of different things to different people.  Perhaps my commercial lending compadres are suggesting the time is ripe for a huge expansion loan...but I doubt it.  Maybe my investment friends are suggesting I tell you to go diversify your portfolio...but they always say that, so I doubt these tough economic times warrant any special treatment.  No, I think what "those in the know" are suggesting is that this is a good time to invest in your business.

Investing in your business can also mean many things, but to me that means working on your infrastructure.  We all know that infrastructure is just a big word that means "the nuts and bolts" of your company.  That new record keeping software, that piece of equipment that needs refurbished/replaced, the certification you have put off, even resurfacing the parking lot or a new coat of paint on the office walls...they are all infrastructure.

When business is good you are too dang busy to worry about those small details.  How many times during "peak sales" did you say to yourself, "Ah, I need to take care of {insert problem area here}."  But you never did because you were too busy making money to find time to spend it...I mean, reinvest it in your company.  With the economic slowdown, the slow sales, and the fear of just covering the bills comes a temptation to withdraw and save every penny.  Problem with that is, we KNOW [emphasis added] that things will rebound.  Already $1.5 trillion has been earmarked for something called "economic stimulus" nationwide.  Whatever that really means, it means there will be a lot of money that needs to be spent.  When the "good" times come back, will your business be poised to capitalize?  Or will you be woefully unprepared?

One final thought...if you think that you have your business as prepared for the rebound as it can possibly be - and you have employees - then consider investing in your greatest asset: your staff.  Employee training [training = training, certifications, continuing education, licensing, skills assessment, skills improvement, etc., etc., etc.] is a fairly low-cost, high-return, and easy investment in the people who make your business run.  If you are unsure what training your people need, or how to find the training you know they need, contact your local WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz office for a no-cost consultation to point you in the right direction.

Whether it be in the equipment, the real estate, the business plan, or the people...an investment in your business today [when things are slow and manageable] will lead to rewards when the inevitable bounce-back arrives.