Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 31, 2011

Google has announced that it will soon add 100 new channels to its video website YouTube. These channels are being produced by some top-tier entertainers including Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher, Shaquille O’Neal, and CSI creator Antony Zuiker. There is really nothing surprising here. Google is on track to take over the world – or at least to unseat Howard Stern as the “king of all media.” OK, all kidding aside, this looks like an opportunity for advertisers.

YouTube 98

YouTube Sports Advertising Cost 98

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 30, 2011

For several years now the search engines have been obsessed with ranking web pages based on popularity. They use link popularity and other measures to determine whether a web page is relevant and useful to a search query. Bill Slawski, who writes about search patents on his blog SEO By The Sea, recently wrote about a Microsoft patent that is based on measuring authority.

Microsoft 98

Microsoft SEO Social Networking Education 98

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 16, 2011

Is StumbleUpon going to be the next powerhouse social media website? Some people might say it is already is. They’ve hit 20 million users. The fascinating thing about that number is that last May – May 2010 – they had only 10 million users. They’ve doubled in size in one year! That’s phenomenal growth. Even better than that, there have been 2. billion Stumbles as of July 2011.

StumbleUpon 98

StumbleUpon MySpace Social Media Trends 98

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 11, 2011

How many different blog comment applications are out there? If you are a WordPress user, then you know you don’t need to add a plug-in or application to encourage comments on your blog. WordPress has its own. However, you can add comment management services like Disqus or CommentLuv. You can also use Facebook, which is very popular among bloggers – especially bloggers who are active on Facebook.

Comments 98

Comments Google Disqus WordPress 98

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 5, 2011

The holiday season is just around the corner and will be upon us quicker than we can say “Holiday Greeting Cards!”. Living in a world filled with technology, do you still mail out your cards via the USPS or do you send out e-cards? If you’re sending out e-cards, do they convey the same depth of emotion which a hand picked, hand written card is thought to expresses?

Retail 98

Retail Training Report Buy 98

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 4, 2011

What is the beginning of Internet marketing for your small business? If you thought I was going to say your website, sorry to disappoint you. Effective Internet marketing begins long before you start building your website. Internet marketing begins with research. There are three really important areas of key research that you should undertake before you do anything online.

Marketing 98

Marketing Research Small Business Newsletter 98

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 29, 2011

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s the process that webmasters use to get their pages ranked in the search engines. It’s not the only online marketing strategy available, but it’s still effective. Even in an age of semantic language indexing, web page optimization strategies that involve keyword management are still viable and still effective.

SEO 93

SEO Engineering Strategy Process 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 28, 2011

Have you ever wondered where your social media posts went after you shared them? Whether you were on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or somewhere else? Well, Google+ is making that possible. It’s really a recycled idea from the Wonder Wheel. Remember that Google product? Not many people used it, but some people did. It essentially allowed you to search for a keyword then see what related keywords return in their SERPs.

Google 93

Google LinkedIn Social Media Examples 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 27, 2011

If you are a small business owner and trying to pave a path to your door for your customers to follow in getting to know you better and do business with you, then the one thing you should prioritize above everything else is writing a book. That’s right. Writing and publishing a book will give you instant credibility. Here’s why. When people hold something tangible in their hands, they know it’s real.

How To 93

How To Publishing Reputation Small Business 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 25, 2011

Google has said from the beginning that it plans to integrate all of its services with Google+. Well, that integration is happening right now for Blogger, the Google blogging platform. I’ve kept it no secret that I’m a fan of WordPress on your own domain name, but there are still people who would rather use Blogger as a free blogging platform.

Blogger 93

Blogger Google Domain Name Blogosphere 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 21, 2011

If you listen to some search engine optimization professionals , SEO is dead – if it was ever alive. But I don’t think so even if you consider that a lot of it is really natural language in disguise. Let me explain. The best thing you can do for your website content is write it in natural language mode. That is, don’t focus on keywords.

SEO 93

SEO Engineering Content Small Business 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 12, 2011

When you plan your search engine optimization efforts, do you do it for the long term or the short term? Most search marketers do it for the short term. Short-term SEO can be characterized by a list of do’s and don’ts on your search company’s list of best practices. They are essentially a list of things to do today so that your website ranks next month.

SEO 93

SEO Strategy Engineering List 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 9, 2011

There has been a lot of talk this week about how the late Steve Jobs changed the world. He was, indeed, a pioneer in technology. Many people continue to use his computer systems in an open source world despite their distinct proprietary nature. To be sure, there is a huge prejudice in some circles against proprietary systems. Some people would rather use the Barnes & Noble Nook over Amazon Kindle simply because the former uses the ePub format for its books, which is open source.

Open Source 93

Open Source Apple Small Business iPhone 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 8, 2011

Amazon recently announced its own version of the tablet PC – a competitor to Apple’s iPad. It’s called Kindle Fire. The astonishing thing about the Kindle Fire is its price. For less than $200, anyone can hold a PC in the palm of their hand. You can watch videos, listen to music, download your favorite apps, read e-books and store all of your entertainment on Amazon’s cloud.

iPad 93

iPad Small Business Price Apple 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 3, 2011

Let something get popular for a few days and someone somewhere is going to ask if something else is dying. Social media was supposed to kill search. It didn’t. Now, it’s supposed to be killing e-mail. But is it? Mark Evans says “no” and I heartily agree. It will be a long time before e-mail marketing dies. And it likely won’t be social media that kills it.

Social Media 93

Social Media Tools Content Marketing 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 2, 2011

It’s been a couple of weeks now since Google+ went public. In its initial life stage you had to have an invitation from a current Google+ user, then you were put on a waiting list. Now, there is no waiting list and the invitations have gone by the wayside. Have you joined yet? Already, social media marketers have broken off into Facebook and Google+ camps.

Google 93

Google LinkedIn Social Media List 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 1, 2011

If you are using Facebook in any capacity as a small business owner – whether you have a personal Facebook profile or you have a Facebook page – then I’d encourage you to activate your Subscriptions. How do you do that and why should you? First, why should you? The reason you want to activate subscriptions is because it allows anyone to check out your updates without having to friend you.

Activities 93

Activities Facebook Small Business System 93

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

Internet marketers have had a phrase – a mantra – that we’ve repeated over and over since the very first days of the Web. That “mantra” is “Content is King.” To the Internet marketing newbie, that phrase may not mean much. But to those of us who have been doing this awhile, it means everything. Content is the master of all.

Content 87

Content Questions Activities Strategy 87

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Jennifer Ledbetter wrote about something on her blog last week that not many people know about. She explained that when your web pages hit the No. 1 spot in Google rankings, they are then reviewed by real human eyeballs. It’s not all “ man vs. machine ,” she said. That’s an important thing to understand. Search rankings are not just based on algorithms.

Review 87

Review Google Questions Small Business 87

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 14, 2011

When it comes to website design , one factor that bears a little forethought is how many share buttons, and which share buttons, you should use on your site. The fact that share buttons are a necessary component to effective web design these days doesn’t go questioned. Pretty much all web designers agree that share buttons add value to any web design.

Delicious 87

Delicious Technorati Digg B2B 87

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Can you send out too many e-mails? Is there ever a point at which you’ve gone too far in your e-mail marketing? I think there is, but you can probably get away with e-mailing your subscriber list to death if you let them know right up front how often you send out your e-mails. For a business, weekly is probably enough. Monthly might be better in some cases, but the problem with monthly e-mails is that you aren’t in the minds of your prospects often enough.

Small Business 87

Small Business List Marketing 87

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 10, 2011

According to John Jantsch , Facebook’s new Timeline will be rolled out to everyone on October 14 (but you can get yours early, he says). I haven’t seen anything yet that says the official date is October 14, but I’ll take his word for it. The question I have for small business owners is, Are you ready? This could be the most important change to Facebook for small business owners since Fan Pages.

Facebook 87

Facebook Small Business Features Questions 87

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 17, 2011

One of the best ways to improve your reputation and your stature among your peers is to become an author. Write a book. But don’t just write a book for the sake of writing a book. Instead, come up with something important to say to people about your niche. If you can do that and do it well, you’ll become an instant expert in your niche and your reputation will shine far and wide.

Reputation 98

Reputation Questions Marketing 98

Small Business Mavericks

OCTOBER 26, 2011

If you’ve been waiting on the sidelines and trying to figure out how to make the most of your social media opportunities , I’ve put together a list of 5 simple social media tactics that get your prospects to take action. Link And Comment – This is a real simple tactic. You find an article somewhere that you like and it’s related to your business niche.

Social Media 130

Social Media Questions Comments List 130