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Articles from Karen Scharf | Selfgrowth.com
- Using PR Effectively in Your Small Business Marketing - by Submitted on Mar 01, 2011 from Karen ScharfDon't have a small business marketing plan? Neither do most of the entrepreneurs we encounter on a regular basis. Many people naively enter the business world convinced that their product or service will sell itself. They expect prospects to find out about their new business as if by magic and ...
Views: 1029(1 vote) - Using Google Beat for your Small Business Marketing - by Submitted on Mar 01, 2011 from Karen ScharfHave you ever heard of the Google Beat? Well if you are a small business who uses the internet for your marketing, now is a great time to learn. The Google Beat is a new YouTube channel that combines information that is of great value to internet marketers all over the world with viral video ...
Views: 1068 - Using Facebook for Small Business Marketing - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfFacebook is an excellent tool to add to your small business marketing plan. A big mistake that many entrepreneurs make when it comes to social media sites like Facebook is the belief that these sites are only useful for large companies that have big brands. In reality Facebook can be a great ...
Views: 1126 - Small Business Marketing with Twitter – How to Integrate Twitter with Your Website - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfWhen it comes to small business marketing, Twitter is an excellent tool. It is a great social media site to create relationships and help spread the word about your products and services. Twitter feeds are widely read, even by non-Twitter members. When it comes to web design there are many ...
Views: 1075 - SEO Techniques – Easy On Page Elements You Can Optimize Today - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfYou might think that SEO techniques involve some kind of trickery, or maybe some top secret steps that only the search engine optimization professionals are aware of. In fact, search engine optimization isn't extremely difficult, it simply involves following a few simple rules. There are a few ...
Views: 1002 - SEO Link Building – Share the Wealth - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfAre you concentrating all of your SEO link building activities on your home page? If so, read on. If you're one of the lucky ones, you might have noticed that more of your website's interior pages have been getting listed in the search engine results pages. If you're one of the unlucky ones, ...
Views: 1173 - Lead Generation with Social Media Marketing – How to Measure the Results - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfBy now you've probably heard all the buzz about social media and how it can drive leads for your business. But when it comes to small business marketing, I'm going to assume that your budget is not unlimited. You need to know that every dollar you spend will bring at least $1.01 to your bottom ...
Views: 990 - Blogging and Small Business Marketing - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfBlogging is an excellent way to supplement your small business marketing. However, there is a great deal of confusion about exactly what role the blog plays in small business marketing and how it helps you to make money. Contrary to what some people may tell you, the blog itself is not meant ...
Views: 1229(1 vote) - Improve Your Small Business Marketing with Pay Per Click - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfHave you added pay per click to your small business marketing plan? If you thought PPC was only for huge websites with gigantic advertising budgets, think again. Pay per click advertising can be a fantastic way to test the sales copy on a web page before publishing that page to the general ...
Views: 908 - How to Improve Your Local SEO - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfThough SEO as a whole can become a rather complicated technique, there are several steps that just about any small business owner can take to optimize his website and increase the chances of it appearing in organic search results. Most small businesses are locally-focused – that is, they cater ...
Views: 1319 - Small Business Marketing and Getting Referrals – Mistakes to Avoid - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2010 from Karen ScharfWhen it comes to small business marketing getting referrals is a huge part of the profit game. Referrals are inexpensive to obtain and easier to sell to. You don’t have to place a huge ad in a high-dollar newspaper to find referrals, so referred clients are inexpensive to come by. And since you ...
Views: 815(1 vote) - Affordable SEO with Longtail Keywords - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2010 from Karen ScharfIf you are starting an online business then you’ll soon realize the important of search engine optimization for your website. If you are willing to try your hand at ranking your own website then affordable SEO is not out of the question. To make search engine optimization less expensive for you ...
Views: 712 - Google Instant and Search Engine Marketing - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2010 from Karen ScharfRecently I presented some brief information on the new Google Instant and what it means to your small business marketing. If you’ve been wondering how Google Instant will impact your search engine marketing program, I suggest you refer to Google Webmaster Central for more details. According ...
Views: 726 - Affordable SEO Beyond Keyword Research - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfA huge part of SEO revolves around keyword research. Keyword research is inexpensive or free for those willing to do the work themselves and it doesn’t involve a whole lot of effort, other than integrating the keywords into web content. However, keyword research doesn’t just mean going to ...
Views: 809 - 4 Easy Ways to Improve Your Blog - by Submitted on Feb 28, 2011 from Karen ScharfLooking for ways to improve your blog? If you’ve been blogging for any amount of time, you might eventually start feeling as if your blog is getting stale. Or if you’re just getting started with your blog, especially if you plan to use it for small business marketing, you might be looking for ...
Views: 744 - What Does Google Instant Mean to Your Business? - by Submitted on Sep 14, 2010 from Karen ScharfWill Google Instant Effect Your Small Business Marketing? Typical web surfers take over 9 seconds to type their search terms into the Google search bar. Apparently, Google thought this staggering amount of time was unacceptable, and so on Wednesday, they quietly launched Google Instant, an ...
Views: 762 - Small Business Marketing with Video - by Submitted on Sep 14, 2010 from Karen ScharfThe use of online videos in small business marketing has become an increasingly popular strategy. Research has suggested that immediately after viewing a company’s video consumers are far more likely to visit the company website or contact the company via phone. In fact they can be up to 40% ...
Views: 823 - Small Business Marketing with a Press Release - by Submitted on Sep 14, 2010 from Karen ScharfWriting a press release for marketing your business or website is an excellent way to attract more prospects and customers. Businesses write press releases to announce a new product or service, make major announcements about their firm, or highlight innovative practices of their business. If ...
Views: 824 - Getting Started with Video Marketing - by Submitted on Sep 14, 2010 from Karen ScharfVideo marketing is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways for a small business owner to advertise his or her products or services online. YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the web and in July of 2010 it was the 3rd most visited website on the planet with over 100 million unique ...
Views: 884 - 10 Quick and Affordable SEO Tips - by Submitted on Sep 14, 2010 from Karen ScharfAn affordable SEO plan that is quick and easy and perfect for a small business budget.. The task of search engine optimization for your website can seem overwhelming at times. You have enough work to do just running your small business, so it’s easy to put SEO at the bottom of your priority ...
Views: 1073(1 vote) - Small Business Marketing with Twitter - by Submitted on Aug 27, 2010 from Karen ScharfTwitter is one of the many social networking services that have taken the web by storm. With this particular social site you only get 140 characters to type your message and let the world know what you are thinking. This is actually a fantastic tool to add to your small business marketing plan; ...
Views: 735 - What is Google Analytics? - by Submitted on Aug 04, 2010 from Karen ScharfGoogle Analytics is one of the many tools that Google provides to webmasters and marketers. Like most of Google’s many services, it is a free one. Google Analytics lets you discover various statistics about your website, such as the amount of traffic your site is getting, where your site ...
Views: 1055 - Using Press Releases in Your Small Business Marketing Plan - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfThe press release has been around for most of modern history in one form or another. When you have some small business news you want to share, using a press release is often the best route to take. However, there are some things you need to know about promoting your business with a press ...
Views: 876 - Creating a Small Business Marketing Plan - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfIt is imperative that, as a small business owner, you create a marketing plan. It's also imperative that you realize your marketing plan is going to be a work in progress. Your plan (and you!) must be flexible enough to change and adapt to the current market conditions, changes in the economy, ...
Views: 838 - Blogging For Beginners - a Great Small Business Marketing Tool - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfA blog is a contraction word of "web log". It is a website that contains personal postings, usually the author's thoughts and feelings about things and events. It may also contain educational articles, videos, images, comments, opinions, descriptions of things or announcements of events. ...
Views: 792 - 5 Small Business Marketing Strategies to Use Right Away - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfMarketing is the life-blood of your business; it is what sustains all businesses today, small and corporate alike. Marketing is the combination of strategies you apply in your small business to get new customers, to maintain customer loyalty and to increase your business profitability. If you ...
Views: 942 - How to Choose a Small Business Marketing Consultant - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2010 from Karen ScharfAs an entrepreneur, there will likely come a time that you feel the need to hire a small business marketing consultant to help with marketing an growing your business. There are many reputable agencies that offer consultant services; the key is finding the right agency for you. Here are ...
Views: 1315 - Defining Your Small Business Marketing Niche - by Submitted on Jul 02, 2010 from Karen ScharfHave you ever heard the saying "If everyone is your customer, no one is your customer"? Many small business owners are afraid to create a niche for their business thinking that they will end up turning away prospects or that they will cut themselves off from potential customers. The fact is, ...
Views: 731 - Small Business Marketing: 8 Cross-Selling Tips to Increase Your Sales - by Submitted on Jul 02, 2010 from Karen ScharfWhen it comes to small business marketing, cross-selling is a great technique to increase sales and improve the bottom line. I often work with my coaching clients to create cross-selling programs for their small businesses. The problem with cross-selling is that it can sometimes confuse your ...
Views: 1809 - Small Business Marketing Principles for Success - by Submitted on Jun 25, 2010 from Karen ScharfIt seems as if most of the entrepreneurs I've encountered lately are looking for the "get rich quick" version of small business marketing. Unfortunately, such a thing doesn't really exist, but if you're looking for some tried-and-true marketing principles that can accelerate your success, I've ...
Views: 697(1 vote) - Small Business Marketing - Finding Your First Customers through Referral Partners - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2010 from Karen ScharfIf you're like many entrepreneurs I've encountered, you probably started your business because you are really good at what you do. At some point in time, you might have decided you were sick and tired of bringing home the bacon for your boss and you figured you'd be better off starting your own ...
Views: 1246(2 votes) - The Single Most Affordable SEO Tip Around - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2010 from Karen ScharfOur small business clients are always interested in affordable SEO ideas to increase the traffic to their websites on a very limited budget. And we typically offer the same search engine optimization tip to all of our clients: The easiest, most affordable SEO step you can make to drive ...
Views: 779(1 vote) - Finding Clients for Your Small Business - Preparing for the Economic Uptick - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2010 from Karen ScharfIt seems to me that the economy is slowly making a comeback, and now would be a great time to ramp up your marketing, take advantage of the renewed spending environment, and move full-speed ahead on growing your business. But many of the small business owners I speak with are still having a hard ...
Views: 826(2 votes) - Google Announces New Algorithm Change - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfIf you’ve been paying attention to your website traffic, you might have noticed a significant dip in the number of visitors coming to your website by searching longtail keywords. (Longtail keywords are search terms that have more than 3 words in the phrase. "Marketing" is a keyword. ...
Views: 1275 - Small Business Marketing - Making Use of a Mission Statement - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2010 from Karen ScharfMany entrepreneurs think they do not need a mission statement since their business is small. They mistakenly believe that a mission statement is something created by Fortune 500 companies to hang on the wall in the CEO's office. But a mission statement is especially important for a small ...
Views: 876 - 7 Common Web Site Mistakes You Might Be Guilty Of - by Submitted on May 28, 2010 from Karen ScharfGenerally when we're building new websites, our clients have several design and development ideas that they would like implemented into the new site. Most of the time, we try to take the clients' ideas into account, but we have several suggestions that pop up often that we have to politely ...
Views: 824(1 vote) - Keyword Research: Free Tools to Get Your Blog Started - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfBefore you actually start writing at your new blog, it's important that you do your preliminary keyword research. Your keyword research is going to drive all of your current content - as well as drive all of your future traffic. Now, you can pay thousands of dollars to a search engine ...
Views: 1616(2 votes) - SEO TLC For Your Current Web Site - by Submitted on May 28, 2010 from Karen ScharfMany of our new clients come to us thinking they need a new website, when in fact what they need to start with is a little search engine optimization. Before you spend thousands on a brand new website design, why not spend one hour testing your current site’s SEO? 2 Minutes Start by logging ...
Views: 1163(1 vote) - Web Site Traffic – Driving Visitors to your Blog - by Submitted on May 28, 2010 from Karen ScharfIt definitely takes a lot of time and effort to craft the perfect blog post. You must research your keywords, develop the perfect headline, craft a compelling opening sentence, create perfect subheads, design a visually appealing layout. Once your post is finally written, it would be easy to ...
Views: 670(1 vote) - Five Useful Tips For Kicking Off Your PR Campaign - by Submitted on May 18, 2010 from Karen ScharfPublic relations, or getting publicity through mainstream media, has been around for hundreds of years and has been proven effective in bringing in consumer traffic to small businesses. But, is such an ancient marketing method still effective for today's high-tech small businesses? While it's ...
Views: 668 - Email Marketing - 7 Steps to Getting Started - by Submitted on May 05, 2010 from Karen ScharfYou probably know that I'm a huge advocate of including email newsletters into your small business marketing plan. Email marketing is relatively inexpensive, and it provides a great opportunity to stay in front of your clients and prospects in an unobtrusive manner. But before you open your ...
Views: 1097(1 vote) - Website Copy Checklist - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfI love using checklists for all of my projects. I have a checklist for new clients, a checklist for installing Wordpress, several checklists for SEO, a checklist for Can-Spam, a checklist for video marketing, and on and on. And, while the overall system I use for my copywriting projects is ...
Views: 1118 - Opt-in or Double Opt-in – Setting Up Your Email List - by Submitted on Feb 22, 2010 from Karen ScharfI’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the tight economy and how small businesses are currently under a financial strain. We’re all feeling the pressure to generate new revenue and improve our overall ROI. The financial news can certainly seem bleak and depressing right about now. But the ...
Views: 857 - Choosing a Web Analytics Program For Your Business - by Submitted on Feb 22, 2010 from Karen ScharfWeb analytics play a major role in the optimization of your online presence; however, if you’re like most small business owners, you probably have only a vague understanding of analytics. You might have heard of web site analytics, maybe even attended a class or a seminar about analytics. But ...
Views: 692(1 vote) - Use Customer Testimonials to Increase Web Sales - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2009 from Karen ScharfI've got to warn you – you're about to read about the pot calling the kettle black. That's because with each and every coaching client I have, I always discuss the creation of a testimonial capturing system. And yet I am woefully inept at using testimonials myself. Because I have non-disclosure ...
Views: 775(7 votes) - What To Do When You Just Can't Concentrate - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2009 from Karen ScharfMy email in-box is jam packed, I have several calls from sales people that I haven't returned yet, my desk is a mess, and I'm finding it very hard to concentrate. What in the world is going on here! Well, for starters, my friend Chris is undergoing her second brain surgery today (a 7 hour ...
Views: 2317(2 votes) - There Is No Such Thing as a Duplicate Content Penalty - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2010 from Karen ScharfFirst, I want you to understand that I am NOT giving you license to steal other people’s content. There ARE repercussions to using duplicate content, but it is not a penalty per se. There continues to be a lot of misinformation surrounding the so-called "Duplicate Content" penalty. I ...
Views: 1094(2 votes) - Email Marketing Tests to Get You Started - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2009 from Karen ScharfIf you’re utilizing email marketing, you should be utilizing email testing. But it can seem complex and costly, and many small business owners aren’t quite sure where to start. If you’d like to use email testing, but aren’t sure where to start, here are 4 of the easiest tests to get you ...
Views: 789(1 vote) - Save Money With Geo-Targeting - by Submitted on Sep 22, 2009 from Karen ScharfIf you're a local business on a tight budget, you can save money on your advertising budget by targeting only specific locations with your AdWords campaigns. It's pretty easy and straight-forward to use the geo-targeting feature in AdWords. Simply log into your campaign setting, the specify ...
Views: 685 - Landing Page Optimization Tips - by Submitted on Sep 22, 2009 from Karen ScharfWhen we hear the words Landing Page we generally think of PPC campaigns or some other form of internet advertising. But I like to use landing pages for all of my off-line advertising also. However, you’re using it, a landing page is a web page, typically hidden from the site’s menu bar and other ...
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