1.  Blog at least twice a week

Why? Because blogging is good for business. 

Not infrequently I am reminded of how lawyers must feel. Jokes about their sleazy tactics and money grubbing ways degrade the entire profession. That lawyer who truly cares about his client and what is right and wrong must feel pretty discouraged and alone in the world.

Today will be a humorous but great learning experience. We will be viewing 3 landing pages that almost got the title as “Best Landing Pages” but turned out to be the “Best Landing Pages – Gone Wrong!”

The hit TV show The Walking Dead definitely knows a thing or two about why social media is an important aspect in your internet marketing strategy. They have created a revolution in television; engaging their viewers so that the show becomes more than a TV show – it’s a social activity. How have they done this, you ask?

Warning: This is one of those witty holiday blogs that mixes reality with unrealistic characters or story telling. Enjoy. 

I was sitting at my desk, coffee in hand, while "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield was playing on Pandora, when a random and spontaneous thought came to me. Why blog if you're a member of Ghostbusters? In the 1984 film, Bill Murray and his bumbling ghost detectives needed business, and luckily they stumbled upon a case. But that was just one or two cases, if they were a real business how would they get more customers? It’s not like ghost detective is a common profession and a widely sought service.

So I played this little scenario out in my head and devised a complete blogging plan that would have helped the Ghostbusters get even more business and help more people. Who knows, it might give you a few tips for your internet marketing strategy and help you answer the question, why blog?

Psst...So, you have a website.

Psst...I heard you have increased traffic to your website over the course of the year. Awesome!

Hummmm....You have sales people with phones lined up to take all the calls that you anticipated, but the leads aren’t pouring in.

Well there are a few 'secrets' you can use to help increase website conversion and turn leads into customers...because isn’t that the end goal of a business website: to get you more customers?

In thinking about what makes a good website, one reality that needs to be taken into account is how different people see and interact with visual data in their world. While it is more complex than this, to keep things simple let’s talk about “word people” versus “picture people.”

Have you ever been asked the question, “what do you do?” only to begin answering and soon notice the person sitting across from you tuned out a long time ago? Judging from the slow, yet excessive head nods accompanied by one too many “uh-huhs” you realize you’ve lost them. You might be asking a similar yet more specific question like, “what does and inbound marketer actually DO?”

Every small business wants its website to be on the front page of Google.  Don’t you? 

The challenge is that the world of SEO (search engine optimization) has been changing a lot over the last two years and most of those changes are not even known by the general population. This means that as a business owner you need to beware of SEO services for small business and big business alike.  What you don’t know can really hurt you.

If you want to rank well in Google, and by that I mean you show up near the front page of Google, you need to understand at least 3 things when evaluating a company you want to work with for SEO services.

Yes, social media has its place not only in your internet marketing, but in your big picture marketing strategy (brand messaging) as well!

If you are a small business or a local non-profit, promoting your brand, your small business services, or a local event is definitely where social media can help amplify your efforts and turn up the volume.

Here are 8 key elements that are important to include in your small business social media strategy: