Internet Marketing Coach

Doing what you do is important but sometimes the WHY you do what you do is just as important.

Owning and operating a small business is difficult. Sometimes, especially when times are tough, you have to really ask yourself why are you doing this. Why do you do what you do.

For me, and I’m sure for many others, there is strength in remembering the WHY behind the WHAT.

If you are not real clear about WHY you do what you do, or if the original reason you started your business is just not as inspiring as it once was I recommend you take some time to re-stock your WHYS.

Originally I started my own business to make a lot of money, be independent, and to be in control of my time and destiny.

In time my business allowed me to speak at conferences around the country and the world. My business began to feed my ego. So I added a “it makes me feel good” to my list of WHYS.

Recently I have added another WHY to my list. In addition to making money, being independent, controlling my time and destiny and feeling good I now have added two bigger, more global WHYS. I’m going to share one now, the other I will save for another post.

One of my new WHY’s…

I feel that there is a fundamental shift occurring in our country and I feel that it is not going to serve us well in time. The shift I’m feeling is one from independence to dependence. Specifically, it seems to me that more and more Americans are looking outside of themselves for help rather than inside of themselves for strength and wisdom.

I believe that being independent (and use that term as an opposite to dependent, not an opposite of interdependent which I think is an essential part of both society and our human experience).

I believe that being independent and self reliant is a good thing both for the individual, the local community and by extension the entire country.

In my mind small business owners epitomize this independent, self-reliant spirit and I am inspired to do whatever I can to help them build their businesses.

It’s a fact that small businesses drive the US economy. Statistics from the Small Business Administration (SBA) show that small businesses make up more than 99.7% of all firms in the US. The SBA also reports that small businesses create 60-80 percent of net new jobs in the US.

Given that small businesses exemplify character traits and the self-reliant spirit that I value and that they are the backbone of the US economy I am proud to provide them with solutions to help them with their Internet marketing challenges.

Having these small business owners trust me enough to hire me is inspiring, my ability to help them succeed is fulfilling and in some small way I feel I’m contributing to local communities and the entire country.

I’m hoping that we small businesses owners can be an example and an inspiration. I’m hoping we can help others see that independence and interdependence as a better path than dependence.

So my new WHY is- Help Save the Country, one small business at a time. What do you think?

All the best,

In my last post I featured a video of my old friend and client, Jay Abraham. As I was thinking about Jay I started thinking about a number of my other past client and friends and Michael Gerber came to mind.

If you are not familiar with Michael I highly recommend that you read all of his books and I suggest you start where he started with his masterpiece, The E-Myth.

In this short video Michael explains what the E-Myth (the entrepreneurial myth) is and the 4 different mind-sets of the entrepreneur. Michaels insight and wisdom is enlightening for EVERY small business person.

Jay Abraham was a client of mine back in the ’90s. He is an absolutely brilliant marketer who is best known for his myriad of successful marketing strategies. In this short video from a Business Mastery Seminar Jay shares four of his best strategies. He talks quickly, pay close attention.

Let me know what you think. Leave your comments below.

The Google Penguin Update launched on April 24 and on the 27th I posted about it. See- New Google Search Algorithm Targets “Over Optimization”  

Here’s an update: 

Yesterday, May 9th, I ran new Search Engine Ranking Reports for my coaching clients. As you can see…

My Internet Marketing Coaching clients are THRIVING!!!

Here are some things you need to be aware of:

Google’s blog says, Penguin is an “important algorithm change targeted at webspam. The change will decrease rankings for sites that we believe are violating Google’s existing quality guidelines.”

Google mentions that typical black hat SEO tactics like keyword stuffing (long considered webspam) would get a site in trouble, but less obvious tactics (link incorporating irrelevant outgoing links into a page of content) would also cause Penguin to flag your site.

Be sure to check your Google Webmaster account for any messages from Google warning about your past spam activity and a potential penalty. Google says that Penguin has impacted about 3.1% of queries (compared to Panda 1.0’s 12%). If you saw major traffic losses between April 24th and April 25th, chances are Penguin is the culprit, even though Panda 3.5 came out around the same time.

Google has not revealed exactly what it is that is causing sites to drop in the rankings but me and others in the SEO community suspect things like:

1. Aggressive exact-match anchor text

2. Overuse of exact-match domains

3. Low-quality article marketing & blog spam

4. Keyword stuffing in internal/outbound links

REMEMBER Penguin is an algorithm update, not a manual penalty. A reconsideration request to Google won’t make much a difference–you’ll have to repair your site and wait for a refresh before your site will recover.

If you do think you have some sort of SEO penalty as a result of either the Google Panda or Penguin updates call me, 541-482-4840, or pop-me an e-mail, I’ll take a look at your site FREE of charge, and give you my recommendations.

As an Internet Marketing Coach and Speaker I have the opportunity to speak with many small business owners about their marketing. Many are going through tough times, often feeling burnt out and befuddled by all of the rapid changes in marketing.

You may be feeling the same and if you are I TOTALLY get it. I understand, AND, Pinterest is something you have to know about.

I know, you don’t have time and I understand not wanting to even look at another new thing to do AND Pinterest is still
something you have to know about.

My new friend Melanie Duncan has become an expert at using Pinterest. I STRONGLY encourage you to enroll in her FREE webinar…

“The Power of Pinning: How to Use Pinterest for
Your Business to Get Traffic and Customers”

Register Here

You can also watch a very interesting video and learn about Melanie’s comprehensive Training Course- Mastering Pinterest for Your Business

Here’s the truth, at least the way I see it today. For most small businesses marketing on Facebook is not all that important. At most, for MOST small businesses, it provides a slight competitive advantage. Of course a slight competitive advantage can be a VERY good thing… and marketing on Facebook can certainly be worth the time and effort.

But here’s the REST OF THE STORY… and why it is now ESSENTIAL to ramp up your marketing on Facebook and other social media- GOOGLE! 

I said earlier that marketing on Facebook is not that important and that is true when you are measuring the DIRECT RETURN but what is INCREDIBLY important to almost every small business is showing up high in the Google search results on your important keywords. Now Google is including “social interaction” in its algorithm. In other words the INDIRECT benefit of marketing on Facebook and other social media is SEO.

At this time the “weight” given to the social networks in Google’s algorithm seems to be rather light, meaning that it does not currently play a large part in the ranking results but EVERY SEO expert I know, every study and forecast I read and my own gut tells me this “social factor” will continually increase in importance over the coming months and years.

My advice- ramp up your social marketing. Create more social engagement and use “Pull Components” to compel your social connections to visit and interact with your website.

$50 Discount ENDS TODAY for this month’s Live Training- How to Facebook for Business Register Here

2 of the most effective website conversion tactics you can include in your Internet Marketing Program are video and case studies.

The “video case study” below combines these tactics very effectively. Watch this video with an eye to how you can do something similar for your business.

I used a “screen capture” video (using Camtasia) with “audio over” to explain what the viewer is seeing.  I’m using the video as part of a sales process. You will notice that below the video there is additional “social proof” and a  ”call to action”. Click the video to watch it.

If you have questions call 541-482-4840

Below is a “screen shot” taken from our Search Engine Ranking software. It shows the number of top 10, total, and changes in Google, Yahoo! & Bing rankings for several clients. (Their names are blurred to protect their privacy.)

Of course obtaining top Google rankings are important but the top rankings must deliver quality visitors so the next important benchmark is visitor count. Here’s a screen shot from Google Analytics:

“Ed I wanted to let you know that you have tripled my business in less than 4 months. I am amazed!  I know it’s the clear and concise website, the compelling content, the clear “calls to action” and 207 first page Google rankings that have made all the difference. Thank you!

I also want to let you know how much I appreciate your pricing. As I small business I have to operate on a tight budget and your extremely fair pricing totally surpassed my expectations.

I could not be happier with your service, your pricing and mostly the results. I will gladly refer you to anyone and everyone I know who is interested in improving their website or their Internet marketing and please feel free to use my as a referral at any time should you need one.”

Ross Rambach
Pure Water Solutions

Click here for details on my Internet Marketing Coaching Program. Let’s Talk CALL 541-482-4840

Be sure to attend this month’s live training session- How to Facebook for Business  Register Here

“Top of mind awareness” is being thought of by the right people and at the right time.

One marketing challenge that we all face as small business people is getting our potential customers to know about us AND to have them think of us at the time they are looking for the products or services we offer.

I would like to think the videos on my website, my services as an Internet marketing coach and the results I get for my clients would cause anyone who visits my website to remember me forever and definitely contact me when they are looking for the services I offer.

Let me ask… Does that sound very likely? Of course not.

Here’s the real truth. Most people remember me and what I offer for a little while. Maybe a day, or a week, maybe even a couple of weeks. But before long my name has slipped from their “top of mind awareness”. Does that sound more likely?

If you are honest with yourself you will recognize that the same thing happens with people who are exposed to your business. They see your ad, or a sign, or visit your website and before long your business slips into the fog of all of the other ads they have seen and websites they have visited.

That’s just the way it is… UNLESS…

We recognize the importance of maintaining top of mind awareness and come up with a strategy to enter into long term relationships with potential customers.

Here’s what I do:

• I offer FREE Internet marketing tips via my blog.
• I offer several ways for potential customers to subscribe to my e-mails.
• I offer content on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

ALL of these are designed to help build and maintain top of mind awareness with potential customers.

Do you have a plan to maintain top of mind awareness with your potential customers? 

Consider this:

• Offer a compelling reason for people to subscribe to your blog or e-mail list.
• Provide interesting, thought provoking and valuable information to your subscribers.
• Consistently send your information. I regularly have people become customers after years of receiving my e-mails and or blog posts.
• Quarterly (and probably monthly) is not frequent enough.

Helping small businesses improve their top of mind awareness, SEO, Social Marketing, PPC, E-mail Marketing, website conversions, etc. is exactly what I provide as an Internet Marketing Coach.

Many websites have already seen a significant drop in rankings and I’m sure many more will in the coming weeks. Here’s a 23 Point Check list that comes straight from Google that will help you avoid being penalized.

Google fully supports “White Hat” SEO which can make your site more compelling, load faster and create an overall better user experience. The opposite of “white hat” SEO is “black hat” and Google is constantly updating their algorithm to find websites that are using “black hat” tactics  like “keyword stuffing“ and “link schemes” and drop them in the rankings.

Here is the 23 Point “White Hat” SEO Checklist:

1. Would you trust the information presented in this article?
2. Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
3. Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
4. Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
5. Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
6. Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
7. Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
8. Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
9. How much quality control is done on content?
10. Does the article describe both sides of a story?
11. Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
12. Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
13. Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
14. For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
15. Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
16. Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
17. Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
18. Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
19. Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
20. Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
21. Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
22. Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
23. Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

You can find this list on Google’s BLOG  

With my as your Internet Marketing Coach I will ALWAYS be looking over your SEO so you obtain and MAINTAIN top Google rankings by using ONLY proven “WHITE HAT” SEO tactics.

“Here is what old prophet said, ‘Words are like a lamp for your feet, so you can see where to walk.’ He also said. ‘Words are like a light for your pathway, so you can see where to go.’”

That is a quote from Communication and the Art of Persuasion by Jim Rohn.

Here’s how this relates to excellent content for your website… 

Craft the words of your website in such a way that your website visitors clearly see the steps they should take, the pathway they should follow.

Our website visitors want to learn about us; what we offer and what differentiates us from other options they are considering. They want to understand how they will benefit by doing business with us rather than one of our competitors. They must also clearly see the pathway and the steps they should take.

Excellent website content is Clear, Compelling, Benefit Oriented AND has a “Call to Action”. It “lights the pathway” so website visitors can clearly see their way and it is a “lamp for the feet” so the visitor can clear see each step they should take.