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2010-04-29T20:15:00.001-07:00

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Rule 15 – Conserve, Preserve and Reserve

2009-08-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

This week I'm giving you a sneak preview at the online exclusive bonus chapter to my book, The Rules of Attraction. To read the full chapter, head on over to www.markdeo.com/rulesofattraction

This rule is becoming more and more important to marketers today. It is the social responsibility rule. While the 70s and the 80s were the "me" decades, the new millennium is the "us" decade. More than ever we are feeling the pressure to tighten our belts and adopt a more conservative approach, build larger reserves for our families and preserve what we already have. The spend, spend, spend and boom/bust mentality is passing away in favor of a more "grounded" mindset. This extends itself to the marketing arena as well.

Conservation-based Marketing
Everywhere we look, we see the "green story" being touted. This doesn't just apply to energy companies, manufacturers and Fortune 500 companies looking to join the "green" bandwagon. Organizations in every industry and field of endeavor are opting for adding this element to their communication strategies. According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus, green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other; an example of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.

Preservation-based Initiatives
One way that we can leverage the current focus on the "green mentality" is to promote sustainability. It's getting difficult to find an industry or profession that doesn't have some type of sustainability initiatives. This can encompass alternative energy initiatives, ride sharing, new recycling alternatives, lower consumption levels and the like. I know a display manufacturer that completely retooled their manufacturing process to eliminate ALL harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) thereby reducing their consumption footprint by 70%. While this did require a significant upfront investment in new equipment, it has resulted in a 136% return on investment to date. Their return came in the form of lower material prices, energy rebates and a special low rate financing as a result of the reduced environmental impact.

There are many more ways that we can leverage this 15th Rule. In short let me say that the more we sincerely focus on preserving, conserving and reserving, the more powerful our marketing will be to those who are socially responsible. What can you do to use this rule in your business?

Attraction-based Marketing for Professionals

2009-08-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

I coach and consult with many professionals that are doctors, dentists, lawyers, bankers and CPAs. Often times when professionals focus on sales or marketing, they can appear desperate. In a sense, "marketing their practice" can reduce their credibility rather than increase it. For this reason, using "attraction-based marketing" can be particularly effective.

There are a number of very credible ways in which professionals can create attraction. Over the next few weeks, I will be focusing on four PROVEN methods by which professionals can create positive client attraction. The first is:

Leveraging Knowledge through Exclusivity

Since professionals have a highly specialized vertical skill, they possess deep knowledge in a very specific area of expertise. If this knowledge is properly used in a carefully orchestrated campaign, it can produce fabulous results in attracting potential clients and referrers. Unfortunately, few professionals perform the planning necessary to properly educate and inspire their prospect base. It often comes off as "self promotion" which has the opposite of the intended impact. Instead, I recommend first crafting the educational message in a way that is interesting and relevant to the target audience. It should be, however, most critically in a way that demonstrates the "exclusivity" offered by the professional. That is, "what do you offer which no one else does?" How do you do it? Why is your exclusive method more valuable that the traditional approach?

The next step is to create a series of messages that clearly articulates the significance of the exclusivity in a way that does NOT promote the professionals services. Shameless self-promotion by professionals is the "kiss of death!" This can accomplished through e-blasts, seminars, webinars, teleconferences and most importantly in a casual way through personal conversations and networking. Finally, the all-important follow-up step. Without consistent, valuable follow-up we are unable to maintain the top-of-the-mind awareness so that when a client need arises, we are the first call they make. More critically, our series of carefully orchestrated messages succeeds in motivating someone to take action based on a latent need. This is the most influential from of selling for professionals.

For more examples of how professionals can use "attraction-based marketing" to build their practice, particularly during economic downturns go to www.markdeo.com and check out my new book, The Rules of Attraction.

Small Businesses Forgotten in Stimulus Distribution

2009-07-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

This article was co-written with Lloyd Chapman, President of the American Small Business League. Lloyd will be on my weekly radio show this Monday at 4 PM. Please visit smallbusinesshour.com to listen.

It is time for America's small businesses to unite and take ACTION!

In a recent national address, President Barack Obama boldly proclaimed that his Administration's economic stimulus package was working. Meanwhile, small businesses in middle class America struggle to simply keep their doors open. Despite thousands of business closures during the last several months, the mainstream media has spent little time discussing the importance of small businesses to America's economic vitality. Our nation's political leaders routinely recognize small business as the backbone of our nation's economy, but to date small businesses have largely been left out of efforts to stimulate America's economy.

America's 27 million small businesses generate more than $6 trillion in annual revenue and collectively account for more than half of our nation's Gross Domestic Product. U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that companies with less than 20 employees account for 90 percent of all U.S. firms and are responsible for more than 97 percent of net new jobs.

When small businesses thrive, our economy grows. Yet today, millions of these businesses are being threatened by the very plan that was supposedly intended to help them. The president's stimulus package, rather than providing aid to small businesses is diverting resources to save mismanaged corporate giants.

Congress earmarked a mere 1.9 percent of the initial $789 billion stimulus package to assist small businesses. Worse yet, to date, less than one half of one percent has been distributed to small businesses. The irony of this is that in the long run small businesses will bear the burden of paying nearly the entire tab for this extravagant spending package and receive almost NOTHING in return.

The new administration is taking capital and revenue from the mouths of America's small business owners and feeding it to the big national banks, greedy Fortune 500 CEOs and Wall Street executives. This theory enraptures Wall Street, yet alienates Main Street. Even the Small Business Administration (SBA) is led by venture capital vipers who are licking their chops at a chance to infiltrate and dominate federal programs designed for small businesses.

The SBA was planning to guarantee $20 billion in loans during fiscal year (FY) 2009, yet it is currently on-track to reach half of that mark. Loan programs like the ARC [America's Recovery Capital] have been purposely structured so that few small businesses can qualify and banks literally have little motivation to lend. Even more disconcerting, every year, billions of dollars in federal contracts intended for small businesses are diverted to Fortune 500 corporations and other clearly large firms. Since 2003, more than 15 federal investigations found fraud, abuse, loopholes and a lack of oversight have led to widespread abuses in federal small business programs. The American Small Business League (ASBL) has estimated that every year up to $100 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted to corporate giants.

On top of this, small businesses are facing a hike in taxes for those earning more than $250,000, limits on itemized deductions, higher dividend taxes and shouldering more responsibility for worker health care.

While the Fortune 500 corporations have an army of lobbyists in Washington, small businesses are on their own. For this reason, it is more important than ever that small businesses unite. Regardless of political affiliation or industry association something needs to be done to stop this insane, wasteful spending spree. The ASBL and the Small Business Hour Radio Show are urging small business owners to make their voice heard. They collectively will be working together to shine a brighter light on issues facing America's 27 million small businesses, and to help the small business community organize a more powerful unified voice. To participate in this united movement towards change, please listen to the Small Business Hour with Mark Deo at smallbusinesshour.com and become a supporter of the ASBL by visiting http://www.asbl.com/joinasbl.html.

by Lloyd Chapman and Mark Deo

Lloyd Chapman, President of the American Small Business League
A vocal crusader for the rights of small business, Mr. Chapman is a familiar figure at the Small Business Administration and in the United States Congress, where he has continued to work tirelessly during the last two presidential administrations to prevent federal small business contracts from being diverted to large corporations. He is regularly quoted by the media on small business contracting issues. He can be contacted at www.asbl.com

Mark Deo, Host of the Small Business Hour
Mark Deo is a small business advocate, author, journalist and business owner. For 12 years he has been the host of CBS radio's, "The Small Business Hour." He has been voted "Journalist of the Year" by the Small Business Administration; his weekly radio show can be heard at www.smallbusinesshour.com.

Thank you for your feedback, and have a great week!

-Mark Deo

No interest, no payment for one year, $35,000 loans available from the SBA

2009-07-29T09:43:00.001-07:00

The Small Business Administration released "lender guidelines" yesterday for the America's Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program. While the program was announced back in May, details on the $35,000 interest-free, deferred-payment loans are only now available.

I was on the phone with Eric Zarnikow, Associate Administrator for Capital Access, the SBA department overseeing the ARC loan program, and he told me that, "Borrowers can begin applying for these loans beginning June 15, per the Administrator's May 18 comments. We estimate that the SBA, through our lenders, will be able to provide about 10,000 ARC loans to small businesses across the country."

You can read my article with more details on these loans on Entrepeneur.com.

What are ARC Loans?
ARC loans will be made for up to $35,000 and available to established, viable, for-profit small businesses suffering "immediate financial hardship" in order to provide some temporary financial relief so they can keep their doors open and put their cash flow back on track. It is intended for businesses that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing qualifying debt (including conventional loans, credit card obligations, notes owed to suppliers and utilities).

So what exactly is a "Viable business?"
Zarnikow says the SBA defines this as "a for-profit business with evidence of profitability or positive cash flow in at least one of the past two years."

How does the SBA define "immediate financial hardship"

The SBA is requiring businesses to show evidence of a "change in the financial condition" such as declining sales, frozen credit lines, difficulty meeting payroll, paying rent or difficulty making loan payments. The lender must analyze and confirm that a hardship exists.

How do ARC loans work?
The loans are 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA and made by existing SBA 7(a) lenders. They have no SBA or lender fees associated with them (unless the lender must secure collateral as part of the loan). The disbursement period (up to six months) is followed by a 12- month deferral period with no repayment of principal. After the deferral period, the borrower pays back only the ARC Loan principal over a five year period. ARC loans are available through SBA-approved lenders as long as funding is available or through September 30, 2010.

Mark Deo will help to guide you through the loan process
I have spent a great deal of time discussing these programs with officials at the SBA, as well as proving insight to some of the most influential business publications in America, including Entrepreneur Magazine. As a reader of my business update, I am more than happy to share this information with you- all I ask is that you purchase a copy of my new book, The Rules of Attraction. If you have a copy of my book, and you want to get my insight on how your business may be able to obtain an ARC loan, please send an e-mail to mark@markdeo.com and include your name and phone number. I will personally call you to help you assess your prospects of obtaining one of these loans.

Click here to purchase my book from Amazon.com. Remember that 100% of the profits from my book go to the charity Habitat for Humanity.

Thank you, and have a great week!

-Mark Deo

Building Loyalty by Thinking Small

2009-07-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Those of us that have lived in a small town know that loyalty is very
natural. People know each other and treat one another as neighbors. Companies
need to think small if they want to build greater loyalty. This works both
externally when trying to attract the right kind of customers as well as
internally when attempting to create greater teamwork and collaboration.

To apply this to improved marketing, I advise that business leaders isolate
several highly targeted audiences that all rally around the same type of
specific requirements. Then focus the ENTIRE message on their needs. This is one
way to become more important to fewer people. This can also be applied to
management by building a structure where people can work well in small teams.
When a small team accepts ownership of a daunting challenge for change, a
wonderful dynamic emerges. Everyone stops worrying about who will get credit or
the political factors. They step up and collectively perform.

Whether you are trying to create attraction externally in the marketplace or
internally in your organization I want to encourage people to get my new book
which is available at Amazon.com now.

You can get it here.

Remember that 100% of the proceeds go to the charity Habitat for Humanity.

Thoughts on the Stimulus Package

2009-07-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

I am being asked to comment in a number of media outlets about the impact of
the President's stimulus program on small businesses. Today I did an interview
for MSN Business. Later this week I will be talking to La Opinion. Here are some
of the typical questions I have been receiving and the answers I am giving. I
have done this in outline form so that you can read this very quickly. I'd love
to get some feedback from our readers.

How important is small business to the U.S. economy?

Small businesses drive this economy

Employ about half of the nation's 144 million private sector workers

Account for 60 to 80 percent of new private sector jobs

Generate more than $6 trillion in annual revenue

Account for more than half of the country's GDP

What do small businesses possess that larger enterprises lack?

Personal passion: Personally invested rather than Wall Street dollars.

Customer-centric: Deep understanding of customer needs and opportunities.

Agility: Adapt quickly to changing market conditions and new business practices.

Experimentation: NOT afraid to improvise and accept failure as a path to success.

Limited resources: Adept at accomplishing more with less with little waste.

Collaboration: Rely on social networks, affiliates, alliances and information sharing.

What are the economic challenges for small businesses today?

Crushing debt due to asset devaluation

Lost 4 million jobs in the last year and more than half are small business jobs

A significant drop in sales and productivity in every industry except Washington

Lack of access to capital or affordable funding

TARP participating banks will likely not participate limiting the ability to fund loans

Wickedly fierce competition and price erosion

How might small business's benefit from the President's stimulus plan?

Obama earmarked $15 billion of the $789 billion stimulus package for small business

$730 mil to reduce small business lending fees

Increase SBA loans to 90%

Attempting to open-up secondary market credit

What are some of the problems with the plan?

Incorporates a HIKE in taxes for all households and businesses earning more than $250,000

Higher dividend taxes

Limits on itemized deductions

Small businesses will likely have to shoulder a more responsibility for worker health care.

SBA was planning to guarantee $20 billion in loans yet currently on-track for less than $10 billion!

The US government is not in-touch with the needs of small businesses – they are spending billions to save 250,000 auto-maker jobs while already 4 million small business jobs have been lost!

Summary

While I cannot place the complete blame for this conundrum at the feet of this
new administration I believe the outgrowth of this stimulus plan is like taking
capital and revenue from the mouth of America's small business owners and
feeding it to the big National Banks, Wall Street financers and government
bureaucrats. This theory enraptures Wall Street and alienates Main Street. Don't
expect help from the government. Small business leaders are on-their-own. That's
good for those willing to roll-up their sleeves. This is how our country became
great – on that backs of small business leaders!

We all have to answer the question: Do we have a fighting chance or just a
chance to fight? I believe the former.

Recommendations for small businesses:

Business attraction is more critical than ever:

Become a bigger fish in a smaller pond by shrinking your audience.

Create standards and systems to leverage efficiency and accommodate growth.

Be willing to destroy and rebuild your business or re-invent yourself especially NOW!

Innovate or die! It's time to launch your most creative products, services and marketing.

Take advantage of all the great talent on the street.

This is the time to enter into collaborative alliances, affiliate relationships and joint ventures to consolidate costs and spread risk.

Localize or globalize! There is no center ground today.

Invest wisely. This is the time to buy – learn how to identify devalued assets.

Sources:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration, Intuit Future of
Small Business Report, Institute for the Future, Huffington Post, MarkDeo.com

-Mark Deo

Take Your Foot Off the Brake!

2009-07-29T09:38:00.002-07:00

Have you ever driven your car on an icy road?
What happens when you jam-on the brakes?
That's right, you slide off the road and maybe end-up in a ditch or worse.

That is exactly what is happening to many people today. They are spending entirely too much time watching, reading, listening and talking about how BAD things are in this economy. They are focusing on blaming Bush or Obama or the Fortune 100 CEOS or whoever. As a result, they can't help but react with fear by jamming-on the brakes.

My winters in Chicago taught me that when I was driving on icy roads and I would hit the brake it would not "prevent" an accident but rather "cause" one to occur. When we blithely slash expenses, lay-off our best and often highest paid people, discontinue investment in technology, marketing, training or improvement programs we are actually RE-ENFORCING our worse fears and jamming on the brakes. I can assure you that this will cause us to end-up in the ditch. Getting out of the ditch will not be easy and in many cases will end-up costing us more than we save.

Instead, I want to encourage entrepreneurs to certainly drive carefully and more diligently. To continue the analogy, we may need to slip into low gear but maintain that steady forward motion. This challenging economic environment is presenting new opportunities (devalued technologies and businesses), the opening of new markets (Green and sustainable areas) and allowing us to access resources which have not been as readily available when times were good (there's more great talent on the street). This is a fabulous time for small businesses to grow and prosper. My most successful clients are now investing more into growth and expansion opportunities than ever before! We are taking our own advice and investing in the release of my new book, The Rules of Attraction, the release of our new Small Business Radio weekly show and in hiring several new consultants!

Just like navigating a treacherous stretch of icy road, it requires careful planning, quick reaction time, precise execution and a healthy risk tolerance. I plan on safely arriving at my destination on time and ensuring our clients do as well. Our positive mindset, practical skills, and sharp wits will permit us to do so. Won't you join me?

Your action plan for this week:
Turn-off the news!
Cancel the daily paper!
Stop talking about how bad things are!
Don't buy-in to the FEAR mentality!

I predict just 18 months from today, you will look back and be happy that you did.

Have a great week!

-Mark Deo

To Twitter, or not to Twitter: That is the Question!

2009-07-29T09:38:00.001-07:00

From time to time I like to share tips and articles from other business experts, and this week I'm sending an article written by my friend Corey Perlman. Corey is an Internet Marketing expert, and author of the book eBoot Camp: Proven Internet Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of his book, and if you do so now he's offering over $2500 in bonuses for FREE. Find out more at: http://www.ebootcampbook.com

-Mark Deo

If you haven't heard the buzz going around about the micro-blogging site Twitter.com, you soon will. It's by far the hottest social networking application in the ever-evolving world of Internet marketing. But, should you join the cyber-party?

Before I answer that question, let's define what Twitter is. Twitter is a Web site where you can follow what people are saying and they can follow what you are saying. The unique thing about Twitter is that they only allow you to write your "tweet" (or written message) in 140 characters or less. Yep, in the 'more is less' world of Internet communication, they have the audacity to make us be short and to the point with everything we write. The nerve!

When you follow someone, each of their tweets shows up on your personal Web page. And when you tweet, each of your messages shows up on their Twitter page. One of the distinct differences between Twitter and other social communities such as Facebook or Linkedin is the more liberal screening process people seem to have on Twitter when deciding who to connect with. It's not uncommon to follow complete strangers based on knowing very little about them. You can blink and have hundreds of people following you or vice versa. For an even clearer definition of Twitter, go to www.twitter.com and watch the video in the top right-hand corner of the page.

So, on to the question of if you should add Twitter as part of your Internet marketing repertoire. My answer is Yes and No. :) Let me explain. My answer is no if you're simply looking for a tool to sell more of your products or services. In my opinion, it's just not being used that way and people frown upon heavy promoting and selling. However, if you are looking to create more online relationships, expand your brand, or stay on the bleeding edge of information in your industry, then I wholeheartedly recommend that you jump on Twitter right away.

A colleague of mine, Perry Belcher, had a great analogy of how to view Twitter. It's like hosting a huge party. You wouldn't invite someone to your party and immediately try and sell them the second you opened the door. Instead, you'd greet them, invite them in, have a conversation and potentially engage in business if the opportunity presents itself. This is exactly how Twitter works as well.

Twitter can be a great opportunity for you to engage people with similar interests in an incredibly fast and effective way. So here are the steps to create your Twitter account:

Go to Twitter.com and register for an account. It's free!
Take some time and fill out your profile. The more thought out your profile is, the more likely people will follow you.
Write your first tweet. Let everyone know you are new to the site and find a fun way to introduce yourself.
Look for some of your friends on Twitter. You have a friend in me! Just go to www.twitter.com/coreyperlman and www.twitter.com/ebootcamp and click "follow" and you will then be following me. You'll be able to see all the people that I follow and can follow them as well if you choose.

For the next few weeks, tweet at least once a day. It takes all of about 2-3 minutes, so don't worry about finding the time. You can also write your tweets via your cell phone. See Twitter.com for instructions on how to do that.

A couple of final notes about Twitter:

Try not to just tweet about what you are doing. Although that is the theme of Twitter.com, most people like to offer some value in some of their tweets. For example, did you see a really good article (maybe like the one you're reading :) and want to share it with your followers? Simply highlight the article link and add it as a tweet.
You don't have to be too picky on who you follow. It's easy to un-follow someone if they are tweeting too much or for any other reason.
On occasion, it is ok to promote your products or services. Just remember the party analogy - don't overdue it and annoy people. Communicate on a personal level with people and build trust. There will be plenty of opportunity down the road to conduct business if the opportunity presents itself naturally.
Write a tweet at least twice a week. That should take all of about 5 minutes total!

Ok my friends, enough with the analysis paralysis, get out there and start TWEETING!

See you in Twitterville!

Corey

This article was provided by SBA Network partner Corey Perlman, find out more at: http://www.ebootcampbook.com

The Power of Combined Training and Coaching

2009-07-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Before I go on with our business update this week let me just take a moment to welcome a new member to out consulting staff. His name is Sean Griffith and he is a new Senior Business Consultant with the SBA Network. Sean is also an attorney and Financial Consultant. Don't hold that against him. With over 10 years of experience he has been helping clients to achieve their goals. Send him an e-mail and introduce yourself.

Companies spend over $375 billion every year on training and even more on coaching. Yet according to the American Society for Training and Development about "42 percent of the knowledge that professionals use to get their jobs done actually comes from their co-workers. This is called prairie-dogging--workers pop out of their cubicles to solicit information from the local expert. When a worker is consulting another worker, both workers lose productivity."

We won't even address the fact that many of these "company experts" are actually spreading the incorrect methods or techniques and that just adds to the dysfunctions that permeate many organizations today.

What if you could provide the skills that workers need to increase their performance without adversely impacting productivity?

There is. It can be accomplished by combining training with coaching.

It is easy to confuse the purpose of training and coaching. I suppose misconceptions arise due to the need for change in performance and the fact that each of these disciplines can discretely increase performance. To demonstrate the difference in a more concrete way, let's take a look at the intent of training vs. coaching in most applications:

Training

Satisfies the knowledge gap

Typically performed in a group setting

Learning can occur from other participants

A forum for harnessing enthusiasm and team motivation

Content is based on a specified single topic

Delivers instruction of methods and techniques

Established period of time

Classroom-based

Pre-established pacing

Coaching

Satisfies the skills gap

One-to-one interactivity

Typically Learning cannot occur from other participants

A forum for harnessing enthusiasm and team motivation

Content can be based on varying topics

Assists participant to put methods and techniques into action

Varying period of time

On-the-job

Flexible pacing

There are probably many other advantages of training or coaching when viewed as separate disciplines, yet consider the combination of providing training with coaching. When these forces are combined we are able to create an environment where habits can be changed much more rapidly.

We deliver the methods and techniques in a training environment and then ensure that they are put into practice with on-going coaching. The coaching allows team members to adapt their training experience to their specific challenges on the job. This supports effective skill-building, increases confidence and solidifies habitual change.

I am proud to say that our organization has been associated with Dale Carnegie Training for over 15 years and we have seen first-hand what combined training and coaching can do to increase the performance within an organization. You can find out more about our coaching programs at http://www.sbanetwork.org

Have a great week!

-Mark Deo

No Time to Plan

2009-07-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

It is not often that I find myself without words. I usually have plenty to say about any topic imaginable. But recently when speaking with a CEO who had asked my advice about how to deal with a particular challenge in his business, I was rendered speechless. This CEO had recently lost a key supplier to the competition thereby disrupting his supply chain and causing production and delivery problems.

As we discussed his challenges, the CEO seemed forthright and was open to hearing ideas of how to handle this. So I told him about several other clients that had experienced the same problem and how they created a foolproof method for avoiding such circumstances in the future. I suggested he engage in some planning to create a network of suppliers with contingencies for those that fail to maintain loyalty. I suggested that in the future, he should try to avoid depending too much on any one supplier unless there was an exclusive arrangement in place. I told him that the key was doing some careful planning to identify competitive suppliers and play one against another.

His response both stunned and surprised me. He said. "Wow, that sounds like it would take a LOT of time. I don't have time for planning!" I asked him if he now had time to find a new supplier. He answered a sheepish, NO and went on to tell me about how he was working 60+ hours per week just trying to manage all of the details of his business.

I think this is a fairly common problem with business leaders today. We spend so much time working IN our business that we fail to work ON the business. Peter Drucker said that on the average one hour spent planning is worth 5 hours of execution. Are you spending enough time planning? Do you need to take a step back and look at the big picture and identify some contingencies?

This might be the very time to do just that. For more information on planning and planning resources, check out our library of articles.

Mark Deo and Cory Halbardier, as well as other SBA Network consultants are available for keynote presentations and other type of speaking engagements. Contact Cory Halbardier at 310-320-8190 to ask about availability.

-Mark Deo
mark@markdeo.com

Global Business

2009-07-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

I want to make everyone aware of an upcoming radio show that we are doing this Friday at 4pm – PST with one of the most interesting business authors I have spoken with in a while.

His name is James Hemerling and his book is called GLOBALITY: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything. Hemerling states that the old global business model (centralized, top-down, process-driven, with influence running from West to East) will recede, perhaps vanish. It is inadequate for a world in which every global company is forced to compete: in every market, with everyone, from everywhere, all the time, for resources and market share.

Unlike developed-market leaders, emerging-market challengers have evolved new management and governance structures that are ideally suited to this new competitive landscape. In addition, it has enabled them to undercut, outthink, outwork, out-innovate, and generally outfox some of the biggest, most powerful names in global industry. What are these upstart challengers doing? How are they winning?

Imagine companies that:

Innovate at the rate of one new product development every 12 hours.

Give up the notion of "headquarters" in a drive toward global expansion.

Do away with titles and committees in an effort to improve staff development.

Expand into 50 countries by satisfying global demand that no one else could see - at the lowest, cheapest end of the market.

Hire thousands of people to staff assembly lines, instead of automating, to be more efficient, flexible, and profitable.

Achieve such high efficiency that they can give away 60% of their services and still make a profit.

Retrain workers by the tens of thousands to build a world-class capability, in less than a decade.

Again, listen to my interview with James Hemerling this Friday at 4pm – PDT. Just go to www.markdeo.com and turn-up the sound. It's that easy!

-Mark Deo
mark@markdeo.com

Fuel for the Economy

2009-07-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

I remember my 1966 Mustang. I sold it for $600 in 1976 before going to grad school and I'm still kicking myself over that! Everyone loved Ford in those days. But it's not easy to believe in Ford these days. The auto giant has lost over $15 billion, closed factories, shed tens of thousands of jobs, sold-off Jaguar, Land Rover and given-up the No. 2 position in sales to Toyota!

Their new Chief Marketing Officer, James Farley, formerly with Toyota, was rehearsing for his speech to dealers, stockholders and company leaders. As the lights dimmed, Mr. Farley didn't calmly announce his future plans or quote statistics. Instead, he spoke from the heart, revealing a depth of passion for Ford that turned the room dead silent. He became swept up in the emotional power of the moment. "I believe, in many ways, the future of Ford is the future of our country," he said. "The work here is simply more important than the work I was doing at Toyota." When he finished, the dealers rose for a standing ovation that left Mr. Farley momentarily stunned. After the applause died down, he savored the reaction. They were waiting for someone to believe in.

Computers, automation and mobile connectedness has had a strange impact on people today. It has caused a desensitization of emotional response. We want to quantify and analyze everything. It is draining the passion and heart from all that we do. I would like to encourage business leaders today to let their true emotions show. Cry real tears, quake with true laughter and shake with anger if you must. Don't downplay the power of REAL EMOTION. Your team is depending on your genuine emotional display to motivate them. It is the fuel for their continued belief and a precursor to talking action!

Have a great week!

-Mark Deo

Turning the Economy Around

2009-07-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting time. The recent layoff of 80,000 American workers has resulted in all of the financial gurus spouting their drivel about the global economic crisis we are facing. I have even heard some say we are entering another depression. Just a few days ago, I appeared on FOX TV and discussed this with business expert Neil Cavuto. He asked me how I thought this was affecting small business owners and what they could do about it. My comments were that maybe we should put some of these gurus on the firing line of small businesses and see how they do. Their demise would be quick and final. Because as I told Mr. Cavuto, the most important asset that entrepreneurs have today is their attitude.

Without a positive attitude, we are doomed regardless of how well or how poorly the economy is doing. Many of us perhaps have heard the Serenity Prayer - "We must accept the things we cannot change, have the courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference." Surely, we cannot individually change the economy but collectively it is certainly possible. We can do this by focusing on the critical business issues at hand like, delivering a higher level of customer satisfaction, creative product development and line extensions, smart financial management, getting longer terms on payables, building customer loyalty programs and penetrating new markets. We do have the ability to turn this economy around but we must first look in the mirror and begin the change within. Do you have the courage to take that challenge? I sure hope so. All of our jobs might depend on it.

Click the Fox Business logo below to view my latest appearance:

Have a great week!

-Mark Deo

How beliefs affect your Sales Team

2009-07-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

It's 10 am on Monday morning at Hal Company. Everyone knows it's time for the sales meeting run by Jay, the sales manager. Jay begins by describing the company's successes over the last week. He mentions that Martin gained commitment from a new client. Everyone claps for Martin but he's not there. As Jay continues to talk about the company's goals, he notices Sam disengaged, reading through what appears to be a contract. Adam and Valishia are always upfront. They thrive on these meetings. Jay knows that they both rely too heavily on excitement to keep their sales up.

Jay has a problem, but it is hard to see.

Now, let's investigate the real issues.

Martin is at his desk working on a proposal. He doesn't see the need to attend the meeting. From his experience at a large company, he found meetings to be a complete waste of time. In addition, he and his old compatriots would frequently joke about tactics they each used to escape meetings. This cemented the belief that "Meetings are useless, so I won't attend."

Jay has experienced difficulty changing this behavior. He has pulled Martin aside on several occasions and requested that he attend the meeting. When he doesn't, Jay permits it to slide because Martin is bringing in more sales than anyone else.

Jay notices that Sam is consistently disengaged in various settings. In other meetings and trainings, Sam usually has something to distract him. While sitting with clients, Sam spends more time talking than listening. This prevents him from attaining a high level of sales. He believes that what he has to say is more important what others have to say. This gets in his way.

Adam and Valishia learned once-upon-a-time that sales is an excitement game. They believe that if they stay excited, they will close more sales. Because of this, they attend every meeting, event, internal and external training, and industry meeting. The problem is they spend more time meeting people and very little time selling.

From the article, "How Beliefs Affect Your Resiliency" we know that beliefs can't be changed directly and aggressively. They must be changed through coaching. We recommend professional coaching because changing beliefs is difficult, but permanent.

In lieu of using a professional coach, we would recommend that Jay sit down with each of them, explain how beliefs work (from the article mentioned above,) and asked questions that get to the heart of their belief. Asking questions such as, "You didn't attend the meeting, this was the behavior. What was the expectation behind that?" He may say that he expected no value to come from the meeting. Then ask him, "What belief creates this expectation?" He may say something like, "I believe that all meetings are a waste of time." Then ask him what would need to happen at a meeting to make it valuable for him to attend.

Once you know, ask him that if you incorporated this new concept into the meeting, if he would attend. Then ask why he would attend. His answer builds emotional value into the meeting.

Follow a similar format with the other individuals.

This article was written by SBA Network Consultant Cory Halbardier.

SALESPERSON: If you are a salesperson, receive a FREE copy of our audio program Being More Productive by sending an email to me at cory@sbanetwork.org with the name and email address of your sales manager. We will send him this article along with a special audio program titled Motivating Your Staff.

SALES ADVANTAGE: We are starting the next session of the Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage class. If you are a salesperson who wants to learn the structure of effective sales, or just to improve your skills, the new class starts March 17^th. Sign up today by contacting Aaron Kent at aaron_kent@dalecarnegie.com or 562-426-8327 x210.

Have a great week!

-Cory Halbardier (cory@sbanetwork.org)

Why Google AdWords Is So Important: And How it Can Give Your Business a Huge Competitive Advantage

2009-06-18T01:16:00.000-07:00

This is all about getting in front of people who are looking for what you sell right this moment and getting them to respond. It's about understanding your audience, refining your sales message, perfecting your sales process and determining your Return On Investment, faster than ever before in the history of marketing - and doing all of this for a very modest sum of money.

When you use the simple process I'm about to show you, you'll achieve the dream of "Marketing on Autopilot" faster than ever before!

Let's Put This in Historical Perspective

Direct marketing has been around since the late 1800s when mail order marketing began. Back then you would run an ad in a magazine with an order form, and the reader would have to cut out the ad, write a check, enclose it in a letter and mail it. Four to eight weeks later, if the vendor was honest, you'd get your stuff in the mail.

Advertisers quickly discovered that they could "key" the order forms with a code, according to which magazine, which advertising copy and offers were used, etc., and get enormously different responses. Within a few decades this became a rigorous science, and some of the very best books on direct marketing were written almost 100 years ago. The guys who did this lived and died by their ads!

The biggest obstacle to direct marketing is that it's always taken lots of time and patience to test things and get it right. If you advertise in magazines, you'll rarely get feedback in less than two months.

Pay Per Click has changed all that. Now you can test ideas in minutes and hours, not days, weeks or months! And you can do it for tens or hundreds of dollars, not thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This takes 90% of the risk out of starting a new business or launching a new product!

And the messages that work in your Pay-Per-Click marketing campaigns will usually also work in other media. So PPC is the first place to test your marketing.

As long ago as 1996, forward-thinking people viewed the Internet as the ultimate marketing machine. Of course by 1998, it was so "obvious" that the Internet was a killer marketing medium that millions of investors blindly dumped their money into DOT COM companies and created a huge bubble - and the recession that followed.

Ouch.

Why did this happen? Why was the DOT COM era such a bomb?

It's basically because thousands of companies were spending $200 to get a $60 customer - and they were too dumb to know it!

Understand this: Advertising is an investment, just like stocks, bonds or real estate. It has to pay for itself, without smoke and mirrors. Direct marketing is the art and science of making advertising pay.

And Google AdWords is the fastest way to become a direct marketing master that the world has ever seen.

So Here's What's Going to Happen:
A Simple 5-Step Plan that Sidesteps All That Waste!

Here's an incredibly simple way to get a website up and running successfully:

1. Put up a web page that tells your visitors what you can do for them - and asks them to respond. The response might be in the form of a purchase, an opt-in to receive a newsletter, information in the mail, a report, guide or paper - but most importantly, get the person to tell you who they are.
2. Generate a list of keywords that your customers would type into a search engine.
3. Write a Google AdWords advertisement, and start buying traffic. Here they come!
4. Monitor your results.
5. Tweak the details and improve your performance - and watch your profits grow.

Why Pay-Per-Click is So Important

Pay Per Click advertising is not a fad or flash in the pan. It's here to stay - permanently. As a matter of fact, in my professional opinion, history will show it to be the most important development in advertising during this decade.

Why? Because it combines two enormously powerful concepts: 1) You only advertise to people who are looking for what you have right now, and you only pay when they respond and click through to your site; and 2) Pricing is determined by an ongoing, real-time auction based on true market values.

Google vs. Overture

There are two major players in Pay-Per-Click: Google and Overture. I believe Google is far superior for my customers. Why?

Google caters much more to technical audiences, B2B buyers and savvy Internet users. They disable ads that have low click-through rates, and reward high-click-through rates with better pricing. Google is instantaneous - you get instant results and can make instant changes, while Overture has a 3-6 day waiting period while their staff reviews what you submit. And Google lets you market to specific countries if you need to.

Google's instantaneous capabilities make it the ultimate, highest-speed direct marketing tool ever devised in the history of mankind. I'm not exaggerating. Google is head and shoulders above everyone else in the search engine world.

Learning the Google System

In April 2002, a few weeks after its inception, I began buying Internet traffic on Google AdWords both for myself and for several of my corporate consulting clients. Many people found my website and became my customer or client through this powerful tool.

So I've been using AdWords intensively - some might say obsessively - for three years now. AdWords was a very exciting new ingredient to add to the mix.

A Word of Caution:

In using AdWords there's initially a tough learning curve for the uninitiated. Most people find their Google AdWords experience very frustrating at first, getting keywords and campaigns disabled because they can't get the requisite 0.5% click-thru rate, or else they overpay for popular keywords that have high bid prices.

Those who don't truly understand direct-response marketing will have a particularly hard time, considering this is the ultimate direct-response machine.

Why Google Succeeded - and Why it Matters to You

Google was a relative late-comer in the search engine game. When I started marketing on search engines in 1998, Google was brand new, a tiny little player in a world of established giants. Yahoo, Altavista, Lycos, Hotbot, Inktomi, Excite, AOL Search, Northern Light, AllTheWeb and dozens of others were duking it out.

On most of those search engines, it was hard to find what you were looking for. And while most of them were cluttered with ads and links all over the place, Google had just a clean white screen with a search box. And Google's results were always easy to read.

Eventually Google became my home page. "Who needs ten search engines - if you have one good one?"

You probably felt the same way.

And THAT became the key to Google's success.

Google's guiding philosophy is RELEVANCE. Give the people what they're looking for - as fast and as easy as possible.

Relevance in Advertising

So when Google decided to sell advertising, they had to make sure it didn't compromise the quality or usefulness of their search engine. Done properly, advertising would actually enhance it.

So when they came up with Google AdWords, they decided to provide up to 8 or 10 spaces for advertisements ("sponsored links") on the top and right side of the page.

Except for the top two, the listings going down the left are FREE listings, positioned according to Google's complex, secret and ever-changing ranking formula. The ads on the right are AdWords ads. The advertiser pays every time you click, and only when you click.

And the lowest position, usually a few pages back, is available for 5 cents a click.

Google's Partner Sites

Google Syndicates their results to other search engines - normally only the top 2-4 results are included. AOL buys the top 3 AdWords positions from Google. Earthlink and Ask Jeeves show the top 4 positions.

This means that being in the top 3 or 4 gives you exposure to a larger audience - perhaps twice as many searches as Google alone, in some cases. It also tends to drive the bid prices up even more, for those special top spots.

What It All Means for You

So when you write an ad and place it in AdWords, you have access to an audience as large as 100 million people - instantly. You get instant feedback. You can test fast, succeed fast, and profit fast from the quality Google experience.

This article was written by our friend and partner, Perry Marshall. He has been a guest on our radio show multiple times, and is the preeminent expert on Google AdWords and Pay Per Click advertising on the web. Perry Marshall helps businesses beat the learning curve and profit from Google AdWords. You can get the skinny on Google AdWords with Perry's FREE 5-day course via e-mail: Visit http://www.PerryMarshall.com/google

Have a great week!

I hope that this "Business Update" has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mark@markdeo.com

Mark Deo

Print this article.

Web Site Presence

2009-06-18T01:13:00.000-07:00

So...you've just created your first website and Boy, It's Real Pretty! It has your name and phone number, some blinking logos, flashing banners, loaded with lots and lots of information..yeah, really pretty!!

Hey, everyone knows the internet is where you've got to be. You're going to make money and there are millions of surfers every day on line..and after all, with a site as nice as yours, you'll be raking in the dough real soon.

You wait. A week goes by. You check your site once more - 14 hits on the counter - all yours (you check in twice every day to admire what a great site you have and see if anyone has stopped by). OK, OK, it takes time for your site to be listed in the search engines... and when that happens...whooh, look out traffic! After all, your site's real pretty and it's packed with information and features, features, features!

Two weeks go by. Then three. No difference. Your saddened, discouraged. This Internet stuff is a crock you tell yourself.

Welcome to the real world! What you have done up till now is akin to putting up a billboard in the middle of the forest. Given time, a hunter will stumble by, take a look, and continue the hunt - hardly a way to make money!

I've spent time looking at quite a number of sites. Most are woefully lacking in both traffic and ways to market their products or business to surfers who do happen to stumble by. If you want to make money with your website, this has to change. A mentor of mine says that one of the definitions of insanity is to keep doing what you've always done and expect to get different results. Yet that's
what many, many website owners do every day.

A successful web presence requires:

creative design concept
relevant, useful content for your target audience
gives a reason for people to return often and consistently
exceptional domain packages
proper website design
secure website service
enabled for E-Commerce
automated credit card processing and check verification
a hosting service that allows you to EASILY and QUICKLY make changes yourself
fast and easy navigation
banner ad exchange programs
search engine placement and improved ranking

I hope this helps you to learn some new ways to create a strong web presence.

The E-mail Trap

2009-06-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

E-mail is a great tool but sometimes we can fall in to several traps that make e-mail our enemy rather than our friend. I thought I’d use this business update to look at a format for business related emails or what many call, “e-mail etiquette.”

Professionalism

Spelling and grammar communicates “who” you are
Use your spell checker. That's what it's for. Don't rely entirely on the spell checker though. If you're using the wrong spelling for a particular use of a word, i.e. two vs. to vs. too, the spell checker won't pick it up. Don't try to guess the spelling of a word. Look it up. A great tool is the Merriam-Webster Online . Also, keep a dictionary handy! Sometimes it is faster than using the online version.
Good grammar is important. I believe in using a conversational tone when writing. It sounds friendlier. Contractions are often okay. Slang is not. Under no circumstances should you use offensive language.
Choose the right words. Take your time putting together a well-written message. Once you hit the send button, you won't have another chance.
Be careful with abbreviations. Today there are all sorts of abbreviations -- U instead of you, 2 instead of to or too, plz instead of please, and thanx instead of thanks. These may be fine for personal messages; in a business, communication should be more formal. Of course, frequently used abbreviations such as Mr. and Mrs., FYI (for your information), inc., and etc. are fine.
Be specific – don’t leave any opportunity for crossed wires or misunderstandings
Read and re-read your email several times from the perspective of the recipient
If you don’t change anything when you are composing an email, then you are going too fast.
Make sure to ask answer all of the questions that have been posed by the client
Salutation – Some are very sensitive to being addressed by their first names or worse yet NO NAME! When in doubt, use Mr., Mrs., or Dr. (if appropriate). When you are replying to an email and the sender of the original message has used his or her first name only, then you could safely assume it's okay to use that person's first name as well.
Avoid writing your message using all uppercase letters. It might be faster to type but it looks like you're shouting. Don't use all small letters either. Some people say it will make it seem like you're mumbling.

Creating the right “tone”

E-mail lacks the formatting of print and the body language of in-person communication; the words themselves carry more feeling. Moreover, e-mail messages are read quickly, so an inappropriate tone can distract your reader and obstruct your message.
It's easy for e-mail writers to let their tone slip from professional to edgy or sarcastic. E-mail emboldens writers to express thoughts they would never say to a reader's face. And e-mail is written quickly then sent.
Remember the letters: F.A.R - Come across as Friendly, Approachable and Respectful
You don't want to sound curt or demanding.
What three words have only 14 letters yet carry a great deal of meaning? Please and Thank You – these are 2 of the most important words we can use in our emails
Sometimes just rearranging the paragraphs will help.
If you're writing to someone you've communicated with before, you might want to begin by saying "I hope you are well."
Emoticons are little faces made up by arranging parentheses, colons, and semi-colons. Use good judgment here. If you write to someone frequently and you have a less formal relationship, then emoticons are okay. If, however, you're writing to a prospect or a client that you don’t know very well, stick to words only.
Angry e-mails – Abe Lincoln
Try to appeal to the clients personality and language orientation

Efficiency

Don’t waste words.
When possible, be brief. Get to your point as quickly as you can. However, don't leave out necessary details. If providing a lot of background information will help the recipient answer your query, by all means, include it. You may even want to apologize for being so wordy at the beginning of the message.
Use client folders and sub folders.
Careful with “Reply To:” You may be including a thread of previous emails that are inappropriate to the recipient
Use the “Blind Copy” feature when sending to a group. Remember Outlook will only support a specified number of blind copies
Use links to reference material and to your web site
Attachments should be added for more information rather than placing data in the dialog box.
Timing is critical when sending emails
Always place an appropriate, meaningful message in the Subject Line
Don’t get trapped into answering emails instantly unless needed.

E-mail as a Tool of Persuasion

Always pose a question at the end of the email.
Leverage their curiosity and interest
Write a compelling and truthful subject line - As with all e-mail, the first hurdle is to write a subject line that says “must open.” Great subject lines telegraph the content of the message and promise a product, service, or outcome of real value.
Smash through preoccupation - Your readers are busy – they don’t have time to figure out what you’re offering. They’re impatient, too. They don’t want a tease, a clever anecdote leading up to the main point. Be direct and succinct. Start with a clear statement of what you’re offering.
Many e-mail sales messages open with a lengthy reminder to the reader that he’s opted in to the mailing and detailed instructions on how to opt out. This statement is an important courtesy, but at the beginning of the message it squanders prime real estate, the first screen. You must give the reader the “opt in” information, but put it at the end of your message.
Deliver one message – If you are trying to get the attention of a prospect, don’t inundate them with EVERYTHING you have to offer. Less is more! Focus on one topic and end with a question.
E-mail readers have short attention spans -- long enough to digest one message, no more. The best strategy for delivering multiple e-mail sales messages is to write a separate message for each thing you’re trying to sell.
Provide Value - In return for opening and reading your communication, give readers something of value: useful information or a special offer, and perhaps something free or discounted.
Show Readers How They Will Benefit - It’s not enough just to tell readers about what you offer
Include A Call To Action - Your compelling subject line and customer-oriented lead have done the trick: you’ve gotten the reader to open your message. You’ve offered insider information and showed readers how your product or service will benefit them. Now go the distance and tell your readers exactly what you want them to do.

I hope these tips help you to improve the effectiveness of your emails. Email can be a powerful marketing and management tool. Take the time to avoid the traps and it will be well worth the effort.

Searching for Answers

2009-06-18T01:05:00.000-07:00

After coming home from a stand-up comedy show, I decided to feed my ego and check the stats on my website. Did any of the persons who have seen me lately go online and check it out? Well, my ego was dealt a crushing blow, since it appeared that they had not. What I discovered, however, was that lots of people were looking at my website- and in many cases not to find me, but to find other people's websites. It shows that people found me when looking for fellow comedians (and friends) Joey Medina, Dante, Jeffrey Steele, Dan Rosenberg, Jimmy JJ Walker, and Josh Nasar- even keywords such as, "comedy central white edgy", "hey hey hey rerun", and "latino comics in los angeles". How am I getting hits for "latino comics in los angeles" when I just may be the whitest man in America? How am I getting hits for "comedy central" when I've never been on their channel performing stand-up? I mention each of these things in a running commentary on my site, as well as link to many websites that do fit that search criteria.

It all comes down to knowing how to get your site ranked well by search engines. Most websites are either not optimized at all to encourage search traffic, or are optimized using outdated techniques. Many misconceptions are still commonplace- persons fret over "Meta tags" and "search engine submission" techniques that quite honestly in most cases are a waste of time and money. There are many site owners who spend money on firms that offer to submit their site to hundreds of search engines, when 98% of all traffic goes through a very small number of search engines, rendering most of that effort worthless! So what can you do?

Many websites still operate under the "Great and Powerful Oz" theory when it comes to search engines- they know very little about how they work, and they just leave it to the man behind the curtain to determine where their site deserves to come up. But with a little coaxing, you can get him to give you some courage, a heart, a brain, or even send you back to Kansas if that's what you want. More importantly, you can get him to include your website in the search results for specific terms.

Here are some techniques that WILL help you with search traffic. These are all things that a site owner can do themselves, and these are all FREE! There are other techniques you can employ that involve very targeted paid advertising which are not discussed in this article. Please note also that search technology changes constantly- when this is being written (April of 2004) these are considered good practices. In the future, different techniques may be recommended. Now that the warnings are out of the way, let's get to it!

1) Optimize your site content for keywords
Make sure that the content on your site (especially on the homepage) mentions the things for which you want people to search and find you. On my site, the homepage reads: "Welcome to the web home of stand-up comedian and talk show host Matt Walker. Inside you'll find links to essential comedy resources, Matt's schedule, video clips, and much, much more! Be sure to tune in every Sunday at 7 AM to The Small Business Hour on KLSX, 97.1 FM in Los Angeles, just before Breakfast with the Beatles. Check out the schedule to find where you can see Matt Walker doing stand-up." Notice that I mention "Matt Walker" repeatedly, I mention "stand-up comedian" and "comedy". I mention "KLSX", our radio station. These are all things that people may want to type into a search engine when looking for my site. Also note that I use these terms in a way that makes readable sense- just listing a bunch of keywords will often be ignored by search engines.

2) Get listed in DMOZ
"DMOZ? What's that?" That's what most people are probably thinking.http://www.dmoz.org is probably the most important directory on the Internet these days, yet it is still a well kept secret. It is a directory that sites may apply for listings with for free. No regular person will ever go to this directory to search for anything, however. So why bother? DMOZ is the seed directory for the Google search engine and a few others. That means that if you are listed in DMOZ, you are much more likely to appear in Google than if you simply submit your site to Google to ask to be listed. Getting entered into DMOZ is a time consuming process- it is managed by humans, not computers, so the time between submission and listing is often 2-3 months. Also, make sure to submit your site in the category that is most appropriate for your site to ensure the best chance of getting listed.

3) Make frequent text updates
Have you ever seen a site that was listed very high in a search engine (perhaps you paid someone to get your site ranked high) and watched it slowly slip down the rankings into the oblivion that is the Internet? This is likely due to having stale web pages. Search engines love fresh content. If you are updating your site constantly, search engines will come back more frequently to grab the contents of your site. More frequent indexing usually leads to better rankings. So set up a "Blog", change your home page often, and find a way to add newsletters, articles, or other informative content to your site frequently.

4) Get rid of the flash
Flash animation sure can look great- The only problem with it is that you can't print it out, right? Wrong! The biggest problem with flash is that search engines can't index what goes on in the flash file. You may have a killer presentation on your latest products in a flash animation on your site. Everyone who sees it loves it- but when Google crawls your site, it is ignored. Make sure that if you have Flash on your website that you duplicate the content as regular text and pictures elsewhere. Otherwise, you are hiding content from search engines, meaning it's harder for people to find the Flash animation in the first place!

5) Inbound Links
A major part of search engine rakings these days is based on inbound links. Get relevant sites to link to you, and you will automatically be considered more "important" in the eyes of search engines, and will thus get better rankings. When other sites link to you, it is best if they use a short line of descriptive text as part of the link- for my site, I ask people to use the phrase "Los Angeles comedian and talk show host Matt Walker". This means that when sites link to me they are using some of the very same keywords that I am trying to improve my rankings with.

The web is undergoing constant change. These tips will not guarantee you a top ranking by themselves. You must stay on top of the latest trends in the industry if you want to stay on top of the rankings. I don't have the time to do so personally, which is why we at the SBA Network are lucky to have a great search consultant with whom we work. Cayley Vos with Netpaths web design is who taught me all that I know about search engines, and he stays in touch with other webmasters and search professionals. I encourage you to find a search consultant with whom you can work- for more information about Cayley and his services, e-mail Mark Deo atmdeo@sbanetwork.org. We'll be happy to facilitate an introduction.

In conclusion, getting search traffic can be a lot of work. These tips WILL help with your rankings, but they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to driving large amounts of traffic to your website. The Internet is a great resource to businesses and individuals alike- use it!

P.S. If you're interested in seeing my comedy site, go to: http://www.funnymatt.com. Please be advised that the content on that site may be considered offensive by some viewers, so it's not for everyone.

This Business Update was written by SBA Network Sales Technology Specialist Matthew Walker- for more information, please contact him at 310-320-8190 or mwalker@sbanetwork.org.

I hope that this "Business Update" has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mark@markdeo.com

Mark Deo

Proper Web Planning

2009-06-18T01:04:00.000-07:00

Millions of new websites are launched each year, and millions close down. Most are destined to fail at educating customers, selling products and services, generating PR, or even just improving your branding efforts. Why? Lack of planning. Most website are just thrown together with little thought or guidance from the business owner. There’s no need to launch a website that flounders, however. Proper planning can help ensure that your website meets the objectives you set. I have developed a seven step planning guide to use BEFORE you spend any money on the actual development of the site.

Audience- To whom is the site directed? It is important that we define who we want the site visitors to be up front. By doing so, we can make sure that all of our planning and development takes place in a manner consistent with this audience in mind. Ask yourself throughout the design and construction phases, “How will this appear to our target audience?”

Uniqueness- What about your site will make it different from the competition? If you have a site that does exactly what your competitors do, congratulations, you’ve just wasted your time and money. If your competitors have a site that seems to do EVERYTHING, then create a site that has fewer functions but works better at doing them. Specialization on the web works just as well as in the real world.

Direction- The key question is what do we wish to have our visitors do? Every page on your website should have some direction for site visitors. Seth Godin writes about this concept in his book, “The Big Red Fez”. If you want visitors to buy a product, make that the dominant feature on your homepage. If you want them to sign up for a newsletter, make that obvious at a glance. Whatever your goal for a site visitor may be, make sure that it is obvious to everyone that it is the designed action for them to take.

Simplicity- Less is more, especially on the web. We can probably all think of numerous websites that are so cluttered, so filled with things to click on, watch, play with, etc. that we do none of the above. Too many options for a site visitor will scare them away from your site. Keep it simple, and you will have far higher conversion percentages of visitors taking action than if you pack everything you can think of on your site.

Functionality- What do you need the site to do? List all of the core functions your site needs to include. Write out how these should work. If you have a site that will let someone check the status of an order on the web, plan out exactly what someone will need to click on, type in, and how their information will be returned to them. By doing so, you can find cumbersome processes and refine them before you build them.

Branding- How does it relate to your branding strategy? Some websites look like they are from a completely different company than their other marketing efforts. Consistency in your marketing efforts is vital- so make sure that whatever is designed fits with the rest of what you are doing.

Visibility- Who can find your site? Who do you want to find it? How will people find you? You should put together a web marketing plan before you develop your site. This way you can include tracking options as part of the structure of your site. Whether that is conversion tracking for Google AdWords, different URLs with promotional codes used in advertising efforts, or even just good stat tracking. It is important to figure out where people are finding you if you want to be able to improve the quality of site traffic in the future.

I hope these items help you with your web construction efforts. Please call or e-mail me with any comments or questions.

This article was written by SBA Network Sales Technology specialist Matt Walker. You can reach him at 714-269-4123 or mwalker@sbanetwork.org.

Planning for Online Success

2009-06-18T01:02:00.000-07:00

Millions of new websites are launched each year, and millions close down. Most are destined to fail at educating customers, selling products and services, generating PR, or even just improving your branding efforts. Why? Lack of planning. Most website are just thrown together with little thought or guidance from the business owner.

Proper planning can help ensure that your website meets the objectives you set. If you think through the goals you have online and how you plan on getting there, you can greatly increase your chances of achieving those goals.

Below is a planning guide to use BEFORE you spend any money on the actual development of your site. These questions will help you work with your web developer to come up with accurate timeframes and a working budget for the project.

General
What are your website expectations (higher sales, more leads, etc.)?
When do you need the new site up?

Audience
To whom is the site directed? (Current clients, new clients, partners, etc.?)
What are the specific industries the site needs to address?
What do you ultimately want visitors to your site to do (call you, send an e-mail, complete a form, etc.)?

Uniqueness
What about your site will make it different from the competition?

Functionality
What do you need the site to do? List all of the core functions the site needs to include.
What forms will the site include (request a quote, contact us, etc.)?
What pieces of information are required to be gathered on these forms?
To whom should the information gathered be sent?
Will information gathered on this site need to be accessible via reports in a specific format?
Will leads generated need to be automatically put into other databases?
Will visitors to the site need access to their order history or other database functions?
Will there be any payment acceptance online?
Will you maintain a blog, or other type of self published content on the site?
Does the site need to include forums or message boards?

Branding
How does it relate to your branding strategy?
Will you use your existing logo, and will it need to be modified in any way?
In what format will you provide the logo and existing graphics to your web developer?
Should the site match the "look and feel" of your existing marketing materials?
What domain name will be used for the site?
Are there alternate domains (common misspellings, alternate company names, etc.) you have?
What additional domains will you need to register?

Design
What sites do you like the look and feel of?
What sites do you NOT like?
Do you have a preference on navigation on the site being on the top, left side, or other location?
Are there particular colors that should be used?
Are there particular colors that should be avoided?
Are there particular fonts that should be used?
Are there particular fonts that should be avoided?

Content
How many pages will the site consist of?
What are these pages?
Will all copy be provided, or will your developer write some of this for you?
Will you need to shoot any photographs for this site?
In what format will images be provided?
Do you have any video content you wish to include?
Will you need to shoot any videos for your site?

Visibility
Who do you want to find your site?
How do you want them to find you?
What keywords do you hope people will use to find you in search engines?
Have you budgeted for an Internet ad campaign?

Hosting
Will this site maintain its existing host?
Will your e-mail remain with your existing e-mail service?

Marketing
How many e-mail newsletter templates will be created?
How many e-mail lists do you have? (Customers, partners, etc.)
How many e-mail addresses are on each of these lists?
In what format do you have these e-mail addresses?

I hope these items help you with your web construction efforts. Please call or e-mail me with any comments or questions.

This article was written by SBA Network Sales Technology specialist Matt Walker. You can reach him at 714-269-4123 or mwalker@sbanetwork.org.

Care to submit an article or just have a comment? Email me at: mark@markdeo.com

Have a great week!

-Mark Deo

Jack of All Trades, Master of None

2009-06-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

As I sit here watching the NFL playoffs, I can't count all the people on the sidelines. You have 65 players on each team, broken down into offense, defense, special teams, and a head coach with offensive and defensive coordinators. These are broken down even further into smaller groups- the offense alone has quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, wide receivers, and the offensive line, each with their own coach. These groups are then often further segmented into possession receivers, big play receivers, speed backs, power backs, 3rd down backs, blocking backs, receiving tight ends, blocking tight ends, guards, tackles (left and right), and centers. Whew!

What we see is specialization on a massive scale. Every player on the team has a very specific job, and how well they do the small tasks they are responsible for is often what determines the winner and loser for each game. Even the referees are specialized. Every member of the officiating crew has an individualized job- certain players to watch for specific rule infractions.

When I play football with my friends on the weekends, we don't have the same type of specialization- we often trade off who plays quarterback and receiver, and we all play both offense and defense. We also, not coincidentally, aren't very good at any of these positions. We also aren't being paid millions of dollars, because we just play for fun.

What do you do to market your business on the Internet? Are you just playing for fun? Or are you hoping to make it a major part of your business? If you really want to use the Internet to generate revenue, you can't afford to be a weekend warrior that just plays around. You need to display the same type of specialization seen in the NFL. It is what makes the difference between successful Internet marketers and unsuccessful ones.

The best tool available on the Internet for savvy marketers is pay per click advertising. These small ads show up on Google and other search engines and websites when you search for a term specified by the advertiser. The great thing about them is that it costs nothing to have your ad displayed- you just pay a small amount (usually somewhere between $.05 and $10.00) each time someone acts on your ad by going to your website.

Let's say someone wanted to market a product to small business owners on the Internet using pay per click advertising. What many novice Internet marketers would be tempted to do is run ads for the term "business". They would then run an ad that describes their product in general terms, hoping to attract as many visitors to their website as possible. Because there are so many people advertising with the term "business", the cost per click is probably up near the $10 mark. If they sold their product for $200, they would need to convert one out of every 20 visitors as actual sales for the program to pay for itself. When you factor in the cost of development, labor, delivery of the product, and other factors, they probably need to convert more like one of every 10 visitors. While possible, this is very difficult, and far from an optimum use of their time. What they lack is proper specialization.

A savvy Internet marketer would take the same product and advertise using the same method. Instead of advertising on the term "business", they would come up with hundreds of terms that relate to the benefit received from the product ("lower costs of communication for small businesses"); because there are far fewer people advertising with these terms, they can probably get clicks for about $.10. They will then run ads for each of these terms that are specific to the search term. One ad should mention items such as "business communication", "lower costs", and "small business"- the words used in the search term example. This means they only need to sell their program to one in every 2000 visitors to turn a profit. The use of specialization hasincreased the profitability of the marketing effort by a factor of 100!

So let me ask again- are you a weekend warrior with your Internet marketing? Or are you a championship contender?

These techniques take a while to learn and apply. If you are considering a pay per click campaign or already have one that is receiving marginal results, we offer a full analysis that includes suggested ads, keywords, and bid prices, with ad text and more advanced techniques to receive greater results. Contact me at mwalker@sbanetwork.org to find out more and see a sample analysis to learn how this can apply to your business.

This Business Update was written by SBA Network Sales Technology Specialist Matthew Walker- for more information, please contact him at 714-269-4123 or mwalker@sbanetwork.org.

Have a great week!

I hope that this "Business Update" has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mark@markdeo.com

Mark Deo

Print this article.

It's blog, it's blog, it's better than bad, it's good!

2009-06-18T00:59:00.001-07:00

You might not remember the classic Ren and Stimpy cartoon’s Log Song which I co-opted above, but you certainly have heard about the hype surrounding blogs. ABC News even named bloggers as their persons of the year for 2004.

What is a blog and why should your business care?

A blog (short for web log) is a section of a website that is extremely easy to update with little to no technical knowledge. The reason these are important to businesses is that you now have a way to quickly and easily disseminate information to clients, prospects, employees, partners, and just about anyone to whom you care to preach your message. They also can dramatically help you with search engine rankings, meaning more visitors coming to your website.

Want to see some in action?

Check out our blog here, and one we set up for a client here.

Pretty nifty, eh? Companies of all sizes are jumping on the blog bandwagon, and you should too. It’s good enough for both GM and neighborhood businesses, and you should try it for yours.

Sounds great you say? Well, not so fast!

Blogs can have their downsides as well- when not properly implemented, they can look tacky and added on to your existing site, instead of an integrated part of your web presence. When adding a blog to your site, don’t settle for a pre-defined template. Insist on having it become a seamless experience for web visitors.

How can you ensure this happens?

Have your web designer check out our new Quick and Dirty Guide to Blogger Integration. This is a 21 page step-by-step guide through the process of adding a blog to a website using the popular blogger.com free service from Google.

Please let me know when you have blogs established on your website- I’d love to check them out myself to see what all of our readers are up to. I'll even link to any blogs right from our home page that readers of this update send to me. Send me your e-mails at mwalker@sbanetwork.org. Have a great week!

This article was written by SBA Network Sales Technology Specialist Matt Walker. You can reach him for more information at mwalker@sbanetwork.org, or 714-269-4123.

Attract More Business One Day Workshops
By popular demand, we are now offering the Attract More Business one day workshop. This full day workshop incorporates content from our “Attract More Business” learning program and 8 week class. The workshop will be held from 9am to 5pm on July 23, 2005 in Monrovia, CA and August 25, 2005 in Long Beach, CA. Attendees of the workshop are eligible for 2 follow up 30 minute coaching sessions.

Sign-up at: Attract More Business One Day Workshop.

Internet Specialization

2009-06-18T00:57:00.000-07:00

The NFL draft is upon us in just 7 days. All across the country football fans are trying to figure out where each player will go. Each team has needs at different positions, and they will try to fill as many of these as possible with next weekend's draft. With 65 players on each team, broken down into offense, defense, and special teams, it's hard to keep track of what each team needs. These are broken down even further into smaller groups- the offense alone has quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, wide receivers, and the offensive line, each with their own coach. These groups are then often further segmented into possession receivers, big play receivers, speed backs, power backs, 3rd down backs, blocking backs, receiving tight ends, blocking tight ends, guards, tackles (left and right), and centers. Whew!

What we see is specialization on a massive scale. Every player on the team has a very specific job, and how well they do the small tasks they are responsible for is often what determines the winner and loser for each game, and what share of millions of dollars they can take home. Even the referees are specialized. Every member of the officiating crew has an individualized job- certain players to watch for specific rule infractions.

When I play football with my friends on the weekends, we don't have the same type of specialization- we often trade off who plays quarterback and receiver, and we all play both offense and defense. We also, not coincidentally, aren't very good at any of these positions. We also aren't being paid millions of dollars, because we just play for fun.

What do you do to market your business on the Internet? Are you just playing for fun? Or are you hoping to make it a major part of your business? If you really want to use the Internet to generate revenue, you can't afford to be a weekend warrior that just plays around. You need to display the same type of specialization seen in the NFL. It is what makes the difference between successful Internet marketers and unsuccessful ones.

The best tool available on the Internet for savvy marketers is pay per click advertising. These small ads show up on Google and other search engines and websites when you search for a term specified by the advertiser. The great thing about them is that it costs nothing to have your ad displayed- you just pay a small amount (usually somewhere between $.05 and a few dollars) each time someone acts on your ad by going to your website.

Let's say someone wanted to market a product to small business owners on the Internet using pay per click advertising. What many novice Internet marketers would be tempted to do is run ads for the term "business". They would then run an ad that describes their product in general terms, hoping to attract as many visitors to their website as possible. Because there are so many people advertising with the term "business", the cost per click is probably up near the $10 mark. If they sold their product for $200, they would need to convert one out of every 20 visitors as actual sales for the program to pay for itself. When you factor in the cost of development, labor, delivery of the product, and other factors, they probably need to convert more like one of every 10 visitors. While possible, this is very difficult, and far from an optimum use of their time. What they lack is proper specialization.

A savvy Internet marketer would take the same product and advertise using the same method. Instead of advertising on the term "business", they would come up with hundreds of terms that relate to the benefit received from the product ("lower costs of communication for small businesses"); because there are far fewer people advertising with these terms, they can probably get clicks for about $.10. They will then run ads for each of these terms that are specific to the search term. One ad should mention items such as "business communication", "lower costs", and "small business"- the words used in the search term example. This means they only need to sell their program to one in every 2000 visitors to turn a profit. The use of specialization has increased the profitability of the marketing effort by a factor of 100!

A truly smart Internet marketer will have their visitors sent to pages on their website that deal with the specific terms they searched on, which also usually increases the conversion rate for these ads. This means that not only are your ads much less expensive, the likelihood they will turn into sales is greatly increased!

So let me ask- are you a weekend warrior with your Internet marketing? Or are you a championship contender?

These techniques take a while to learn and apply. If you are considering a pay per click campaign or already have one that is receiving marginal results, we offer a full analysis that includes suggested ads, keywords, and bid prices, with ad text and more advanced techniques to receive greater results. Contact me at mwalker@sbanetwork.org to find out more and see a sample analysis to learn how this can apply to your business.

This Business Update was written by SBA Network Sales Technology Specialist Matthew Walker- for more information, please contact him at 714-269-4123 or mwalker@sbanetwork.org.

I hope that this "Business Update" has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mark@markdeo.com.

Have a great week!

Internet Marketing is as Easy as 1, 2, 3... (Part 2)

2009-06-18T00:56:00.001-07:00

This article is part 2 of 3 in a series written by Matt Walker, VP Technology Services for the SBA Network. You may contact him at mwalker@sbanetwork.org with any questions on the issues raised.

Last week we discussed Search Engine Optimization and how it fits into an overall Internet Marketing strategy. This week we're taking a look at an element of Pay-Per-Click advertising. To recap, last week's article gave tips on getting listed by search engines, optimizing your content, finding link partners, and testing. We also mentioned the three most important areas of Internet Marketing:

Search Engine Optimization
Pay-Per-Click Marketing
Internet Viral Marketing

When prospects are looking for solutions to their problems, they often start with the Internet. Using search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN, these prospects are presented with regular search results (as discussed last week) and also small text ads that appear alongside the search results. These ads are inexpensive, highly targeted, and turned Google into a multi-billion dollar company, pennies at a time.

How do they work? An advertiser uses the search engine's website to select specific keywords for which their ad will be displayed. They create their all text ad with a link back to a website. They also enter the price they are willing to pay each time the ad gets clicked on. Then when the keywords specified are searched upon, the ad is displayed, and if clicked on, the advertiser pays the search engine for the traffic. Because the search engine gets paid each time the ad is clicked on, instead of each time the ad is displayed, this is known as Pay-Per-Click advertising. When implemented properly, this can be one of the most cost effective ways to generate business online.

Overall it's a simple process, but generally takes knowledge of best practices, experience, and testing to have a successful campaign. The most important tasks in maintaining a successful new campaign are:

Selecting Proper Keywords
Creating Compelling Ads
Proper Bidding
Testing
Refining Landing Pages

For the rest of this article we'll focus most of our attention on selecting keywords using Google's AdWords program, but the techniques discussed work with all Pay-Per-Click providers.

Proper keywords are the bedrock of any successful pay-per-click campaign. To research keywords, I recommend using the Keyword Tool built into Google AdWords. This tool allows you to seed a search with a website address (it will analyze the content and find relevant keywords) or a brief description of the website you will be advertising. Perform this search, and you will be presented with a list of potential keywords. This list provides estimates on advertiser competition and approximate monthly search volume.

The ideal keyword will have little advertiser competition, and a high search volume. Add all keywords that you feel represent terms on which your prospects will search. You should use the drop down box for "Match Type" and add each keyword twice more to ensure that each word is entered as a broad match, phrase match, and exact match. The reasons for using these match types and what they mean are beyond the scope of this article, but if you'd like to know more e-mail me or come to our Internet Marketing Seminar on November 7th where we will be discussing this in far greater detail.

At this stage, you want as many keywords as possible- we will refine these later in the process (usually discarding 99% of them). So if you think your list is unwieldy, don't worry, we will be shrinking it very soon.

Now that you have your keywords, create an ad and use a moderate bid to get things started. Where this ad links on your website is not important...yet. At this stage you want to get your ad running for as many keywords as possible, just to gather information about keywords. Let these ads run for a bit to gather data about search volumes.

Now that your ads have been running for a few days, use Google's reporting tools to see which keywords generate the greatest amount of searches (this will be reflected by the number of impressions your ad garners). At this point, you should keep the keywords with the greatest number of impressions, and focus your efforts on these (since they generate far more searches than the rest of the keywords on your list). The rest of the keywords can either be paused or deleted, whichever you prefer.

It is typical for a campaign to start with a hundreds or thousands of keywords that are pared down to less than ten.

Take the best performing keywords and create separate ad groups for each one. Each ad group should contain the keyword with the broad match, phrase match, and exact match. Now you should write ads that are tailored specifically for each of these ad groups. Use the search term in your ad copy if you can, and make this ad link to a landing page on your website that is specifically about the keyword.

This may seem like a lot of work just on refining keywords, but it is imperative to follow this process for your AdWords campaign to be a success. This process will allow you to create highly targeted ads that achieve very high clickthrough rates, allowing you to purchase traffic for less than your competitors (and also present prospects with content that matches with what they are looking.)

Using the proper keywords can help you follow rule 1 of Mark Deo's Rules of Attraction- Become a bigger fish in a smaller pond. By finding the keywords that generate the greatest search volume, and focusing our efforts on areas in which prospects express interest, we are able to refine ads that dominate small groups of keywords, instead of spreading our effort across large numbers of keywords that generate few searches.

To learn more about this process, and how to refine your ads to dominate these small keyword groups, please come to our Internet Marking Seminar on November 7th in Long Beach. Go to:http://www.sbanetwork.org/classes/upcoming_classes.asp for more details.

Next week we'll explore Internet based Viral Marketing, and how it can be used in conjunction with SEO and Pay-Per-Click to generate business online.

For detailed advice on any of the techniques mentioned, or for an analysis of your website and some specific recommendations on what you can do, please contact Matt Walker atmwalker@sbanetwork.org.

For more information about the Internet Marketing Workshop being held November 7th in Long Beach, go to: http://www.sbanetwork.org/classes/upcoming_classes.asp or contact Cory Halbardier at cory@sbanetwork.org.