You have an internet marketing strategy in place for one simple reason: you want your ideal customers to find you online. More specifically, you want your customers to find you on Google, because, well, Google has the largest market share – like most of it actually. So when Google releases information about a new update, we want to make sure you know about it, which is what it recently did. We’re here to tell you what you need to know and understand about how it could affect your overall internet marketing strategy.

There are many mistakes that an email marketing consultant can make when creating an email marketing campaign. However, there are some top contenders of things you should never, ever do! Continue reading to find out what those mistakes are so that you don’t make them, or so that you recognize them when you see them happen.

There are many “life lessons” I have learned through the years and one of them is that some things are worth the money, while others are not. We usually learn this one of two ways: from our own experience, or if we are wise, we watch and listen to others’ experiences and learn from them.  I suggest the 2^nd route, but most of us learn by doing and experiencing.

I love Post-its. They make me happy. Not the yellow boring square Post-its – although they will do – I like the Post-its that come in fun shapes, sizes and colors. Why am I writing to you about Post-its? Because they help me write my internet marketing tips every week and they can help you write too.

In Matt Cutts' most recent video blog he explained how the team at Google evaluates paid link building services. In the past few months Google has gotten even stricter on link building strategies including backlinking and guest blogging. In this particular video he explains the fine line between paid link building, which can be the difference of receiving a free trial to receiving a gift card for providing links.

Well, let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with ABC, when you blog you begin with marketing goals. (Okay, so Rodgers and Hammerstein may not exactly like my rendition…)

Let’s start by remembering the overall goal of internet marketing for your business and ultimately the answer behind the question ‘Why Blog?’--

You want more customers and more sales.

To effectively reach the right audience it’s essential to have your buyer personas established and a part of your business's internet marketing strategy. Knowing who your ideal customers are will help you tremendously with your marketing efforts. Many businesses leave this part out or don't realize how important this aspect really is.

In the past websites were built with the idea of an electronic business card, but that's not really the mindset anymore of what makes a good website. Sadly this create-it and leave-it mentality is still lingering in small business owners today.

This past Friday I had the privilege of being part of a group of “experts” at an event that ChicoStart put together called “Spring Training.” It was a bit like speed dating for entrepreneurs and startup companies. There were seven stations with experts in business pitch, funding, strategic planning, human resources, technical, legal and HR/Payroll, and marketing for startups. Each company or individual got 7 minutes to pitch their idea at each station and ask advice or get input. True to the baseball analogy, there were 7 innings, then a 7 inning stretch, followed by 3 more innings where they could go back to a station where they hoped for more input. By that 10^th inning of “overtime” we were all glassy eyed and tired, but what a great time! The participants I interacted with were enthusiastic and engaged, teachable and hopeful!