Category Archives for Marketing Ideas

Why is SEO Like a Tree? Small Business Marketing Advice.

SEO means Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the way people FIND your website, your business, or your product…at exactly the time they’re looking for it.

SEO is cheaper and longer-lasting than advertising. Therefore, it’s better than advertising. Better still-you can learn it yourself. It’s easy.

It’s Not Too Late to Compete for Page 1 Search Results

The old saying goes, “The best time to plan a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

I know small most small business owners think they’re either too small or too late to get into the coveted 1st page of Google search results. But it’s not true! Search engine optimization can start producing results in a matter of weeks, or even days.

I got my first website, Mazerwholesale.com back in the late 1990’s. I DID plant seeds 20+ years ago and my website and my study of SEO changed my life.

It’s true there’s an element of authority a website gains over the course of time, but the main source of search engine optimization has to do with the content of your site.

When the content of your website closely matches what a person is searching for, your website has a chance of getting the click.

Get SEO Results Fast.

On Smallbusinessu.org, I experimented using website content to rank for The Best Blueberry Pie in Philadelphia and also in other areas in New Jersey. Obviously, we don’t make OR sell blueberry pie here at Small Business U. However, website pages that I created back in 2017 ranked on page 1 of search results within 2 weeks. Even better, as of this day, Feburary 3, 2020, most of them still show up on page 1 of search results in several areas we targeted.

Here’s Why YOU’RE the #1 Expert for Optimizing Your Website:

You know your business and your products better than any $100/hour geek. You know what kind of questions your customers ask, and the words they use to describe them. These are your KEYWORDS. Simple, right? When your website answers the questions people are asking, or providing the solutions people are looking for, your website has a great chance of shooting to page 1 of search results. It’s common sense. SEO is common sense.

Start Optimizing Your Website and Start Getting More Customers.

It’s NOT too late to get your business, your products or services, onto the first page of Google. You DON’T need to spend a bunch of money. It’s really just a matter of understanding a few simple fundamentals.

Unlike planting a tree, it doesn’t take a long time for SEO to bear fruit. ONE simple change, ONE new page on your website, ONE headline, can make a the difference...and you’ll start getting more calls, seeing more customers, and making more sales.

I can almost always find several ways to tweak your website to make it rise in the search results. Additionally, I can usually help you eliminate some flaws which may be hurting your search engine raking.

I urge you to start now to learn how to make your website optimized for search. It’s not complicated. You will get more new customers and…

…I’m here to help. Just ask me. Send me an email at Andrew@smallbusinessu.org. Include your name, business name, and website. I’ll give you some pointers. No strings attached. It’s my pleasure. Promise.

Learn SEO and Compete With ANY Size Business

When you reach page 1 in search results, you can compete with businesses 1000 times bigger than yours. No. I’m not exaggerating.

My small wholesale company competes with Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, and other retail giants. When people are looking online for what MY company sells, my website is often #1 on the organic search results. Yes, above those mega-billion dollar, multi-national companies.

I learned basic, simple Search Engine Optimization techniques. It changed my business and it changed my life. You can too.

Your website should be delivering leads and customers regularly and consistently. If yours doesn’t, I’m happy to take a look and give you some recommendations…NO CHARGE. No kidding. Just ask.

All you have to do is send me an email at Andrew@smallbusinessu.org or CLICK HERE. Include your name and your website address and anything you want me to know about your business and I’ll give you some ideas.

One or 2 simple changes can make a huge difference. That’s how it happened for me. It can change your life.

Seriously…no strings attached. I just want to help.

What Are Keywords and Why Do They Matter?

Want more customers without spending a fortune on marketing? Learn the fundamentals of SEO (search engine optimization).

Keywords are the words on your website that tell people what you’re selling.

Keywords are the words on your website that answer the questions people are asking.

Keywords are what people use when they Google a question (also known as a search query).

Keywords are a combination of words and phrases.

Keywords are the words and phrases used on your site to tell about your product. The words and sentences which make up the content of a website are important. They need a great deal of thought.

You want to think about how people may be searching for a business, a product, or a service like yours. Then, use those words and phrases on your website.

When the words and sentences on your website match the words used in a search query, your website has a good chance of showing in the search results. This is how to get people to your website who otherwise may never know about you or your business.

How Can a Small Business Like Mine Compete With a Bigger Business in Search Results?

Your business CAN compete for top positions on search engines, even against the biggest competitors.

I’ve been doing it for nearly 20 years.

My business, Mazer Wholesale competes with businesses like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, Walmart, and Amazon. We’re on the first page of Google search results. We’re right up there with them and often ABOVE them on the list.

I tell you from experience that your business CAN compete for top positions in the search engines, even against your biggest competitors.

You Don’t Need to Spend a Lot of Money to Get Great Search Engine Rank.

You don’t need to become an SEO expert nor do you have to pay for high search engine positions. Get discovered by dozens, hundreds, or even thousands more people every month, FREE. How?

When you learn understand the fundamentals of SEO and how to apply them in your website content, you’ll be able to optimize your own website. It’s not difficult. It requires no technical skills. You can do it. It’s easy.

For example, ask yourself: How do customers think about my product? What are the questions they ask, in person, on the phone, or in a search query?

When the content on your website matches what people are looking for, it’s going to bring more people to your website. Some of them will become customers. It’s that simple.

Remember what I said in the beginning of this article? You want to answer the questions that people are asking.

But Aren’t Our Competitors Already Doing These SEO Techniques?

You may be saying to yourself, “But isn’t that what my competition is doing?” I’ll say, “Some are, but not all.” I’m also certain they’re not using ALL the possible search terms available.

You only need to understand the fundamentals of SEO and how to apply them in your website content.

Learn to Apply SEO Specifically for Your Business.

You can learn how to optimize your website for your specific business fast.

You don’t need to spend years, months, or even weeks learning Search Engine Optimization.

Although it took me years to learn, it’s possible to learn how to think about and apply SEO to your website in a matter of hours.

Why Should I Add Pictures to Google My Business?

“A picture is worth 1000 words” and Google knows it. I don’t always do what my wife tells me to do but I always do what Google tells me.
Google, love ’em or hate ’em is king when it comes to people discovering and learning about your business. Google publishes content telling us what to do to so new customers can find us. This is a GIFT! Take it!

Google Says: Add More Images to Google My Business

What you’re seeing in the image above is from an email Google sent me just a few minutes ago. No wonder Mazer Wholesale has been so busy…look at how many people saw our images!

Adding images to your Google My Business profile (GMB) is easy. I have some suggestions on how to do it best results:

1. Do it. Do it often. Schedule to add an image at least once per week. Add more than 1 per week if you can.
2. Use pictures of products people are looking for. If your product is a service, use an image of the service in action. Consumers are looking for answers to their questions or to find a product or service they need. The picture should align with the answer they’re looking for.
3. Name the picture well. Every file has a name. Each image needs a name. Example: Fried Seafood Combination.jpg Not: img210.jpg. Google doesn’t see your images, but it does read your filenames.

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The Biggest Problem You have with GMB

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Your biggest problem with Google My Business is that it’s adding more to your workload. I get it. However, look at the payoff!

Those 10,000+ views of my company’s GMB images tell Google my company is relevant in the marketplace. Google sees my business and the things I sell on my website are relevant to what 1000’s of people are searching for month after month.

This is why Mazer Wholesale is growing. This is why my small business is competing for high ranking in search results against world-recognized companies like Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target and others.

I strongly advise you to care for your GMB property (yes, it’s valuable property) as if it were a Golden Goose.

NEED HELP? Just ask. Join Small Business U Coaching & Consulting Membership.

Rank Higher in Google Search Results with Photos and Images

I love Google because Google helps me get new customers all the time, FREE. That’s a good reason, right?!!!

I don’t pay Google a penny for advertising, yet, my website and my business show up on page 1 of Google search results when people are looking for what my business sells-over 100 times per day on average.

This is why I advise my clients to be active with their Google My Business profile. Add images and posts weekly.

Why Do Photos Matter in Marketing My Business Online?

Photos are important in marketing communication for a lot of reasons, but the #1 reason (in my opinion) is because Google tells me so.

Google sent me this email through my wholesale company’s email account. This tells me a lot about how following their recommendations is benefiting my business.

They told me adding more images to our Google My Business profile will help my business and my products show up in more searches. So, we started doing it. As you can see, nearly 11,000 people saw the images we have posted on our profile.

What’s significant here is the fact that people who have come across these photos wherein the act of searching for something they probably had the intention of purchasing, either now or in the near future. That’s powerful!

Add More Photos on Your Website to Climb Higher in Search Results

Photos and all images play an important role on your website.

You know the old saying, “A picture is worth 1000 words.” Images stand out so you simply can’t miss them. If the picture is interesting enough and compelling enough, people will read the text around or below the image. Hopefully, the text information is valuable and your reader continues to read on.

The longer your website visitor stays on your page, the more likely Google will determine the content on the page is good information, worthy of showing to more people. This is how your page rises in search results.

Optimizing Images for Better SEO Results

We can go even deeper into optimizing our website for search results by optimizing the images we use on our websites. This is an important material but we’ll leave it for another post called How to Optimize Images for Search Engine Optimization.

How to Get a 5-Star Review Without Ever Making the Sale

I have to tell you a story about a transaction that I DID NOT make yesterday which turned into broadcast praise on Yelp, Google, and Facebook.

If you didn’t know this, I own a wholesale company called Mazer Wholesale, Inc. I started in 1986 when I was 21 years old.

About 99.9% of the new business which comes in for Mazer Wholesale is acquired online, mostly as a result of good search engine optimization (which means we get a very high placement on the search engines, even against companies 1000 times bigger than us).

Yesterday a woman from Wisconsin placed an order on our website for 200 aluminum foil disposable pans for her catering business. We ship the item from Philadelphia and when I calculated the shipping charge, it was very high and, in my opinion, and from experience, I think she can get a better deal buying local, so I wanted to let her know.

I started typing an email and then decided a phone call would be quicker and possibly even save the sale. I left her a voicemail telling her we appreciate the opportunity but considering the high cost of the shipping, I don’t think we’ll be the best choice.

About an hour later, she called excitedly and with lavish praise for that AMAZING phone call. We must have talked for 5 minutes or so. She genuinely appreciated the personal touch. To me, it was simply a smart use of my time and a way to possibly save a sale.

After the business day ended, I decided to send her an email to let her know how her phone call was the highlight of my day. As I typed out the email I said to myself, “Why not ask her for a review?” so I did.

She jumped on it. She posted on Google, Facebook, and Yelp!

Without Even Having Made the Sale, We Got Three 5-Star Reviews

I’m sharing this so YOU can be aware that positive reviews (and negative ones too) can result from the simplest interactions with customers. Be blatantly honest with your customers and you may get a 5-star review for it.

You may even get the sale.

I’ve found that 5-star reviews, positive or negative are mostly the result of the quality communication with the customer.

Guess what…she did end up placing the order a couple of days later!

Want to learn more smart tips about getting more positive reviews? Check my other blog post here 👉 “How To Get More 5- Star Reviews”

The Top Benefits of Good Search Engine Optimization

Focusing on improving your business’ website Search Engine Optimization is one of the best investments you can make in marketing.

I know this from first hand experience. I’ve done the research and the work over the span of the past 20 years. My small business competes online with Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and 1000’s of other online sellers competing to sell the same or similar items.

My website, mazerwholesale.com competes for position on the first page of search results with all these mega companies and we often beat them with the very top position on the organic search results.

So, here we go with

The Top 5 Benefits of Good SEO for Your Small Business Website

1. Potential customers will find your business at the precise moment they’re making a buying decision. Think about that. Your business and your website is right there in front of the eyeballs of the perfect customer at the perfect time. You don’t get that with most other kinds of advertising, and you don’t even have to pay for it!
2. Good SEO lasts indefinitely. Every piece of content you create on your website lasts for as long as your website remains online. There’s no expiration date. It stays there and the search engines know it’s there, so when someone is searching for a business like yours or a product or service your website content features, you have a chance of being right in front of the potential customer at the right time.
3. Good SEO gets better with age. The maturity of a website (how long it remains online) is a valuable component of SEO. It’s called Authority. Therefore, the sooner you start building more pages and optimizing the existing pages on your website, the more effectively your website will attract customers now and in the future.
4. Good SEO is the way to level the playing field with even the biggest competitors. Google and the other search engines don’t favor one company above the other. However, they do favor the usefulness of the content of a website. Useful, informative content on your website which is relevant to the search query is the key to breaking through to the first page of search results and even to the top of the page.
5. Building a website that consistently shows up on the top page of search results will consistently bring new customers. Therefore, it’s valuable. Your business becomes more stable, more predictable, and more enjoyable. Your website will become an asset, not an expense.

Why YOUR Small Business Should Care About SEO

Because SEO the cheapest and easiest way to get more new customers, now and in the future.

“Why should I care about search engine optimization? I’m just a small business. I don’t have a lot of money to spend on SEO.”

Friends, SEO is THE way to compete with any size company in your field of business. Good SEO has nothing to do with how much money you spend on it. It has nothing to do with tricks or shortcuts.

Good SEO has more to do with what you know about SEO and about how your website communicates with potential customers searching for a product or service like yours, even if they don’t already know you exist.

This article WILL give you insights that will help you make better decisions about your website content and better decisions when you’re looking for help with your website and digital marketing in the future.

All the while, your website will serve your customers better and consequently, you will get more customers.

How Search Engine Optimization Works-Demonstrated

In this article, I am in the act of demonstrating a fundamental search engine optimization strategy. I’m showing you how it works. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

• I’ve created a sensible title for this page. It asks a question about search engine optimization. Many people search the internet for information about SEO every hour of the day because it’s such a valuable skill to understand. The title of the page tells Google what this page is about. That’s vitally important for good SEO.
• I typed 3 short paragraphs that are relevant to the page title. This also signals Google that the content appears to match the title. Although this may seem obvious, it doesn’t necessarily happen. The average business owner isn’t aware of the value in this small but important element. (Pssst…neither do a lot of SEO service providers.)
• Next, we have bold Subtitle which reads This is How Search Engine Optimization Works. This bold type is in H2 format, otherwise known as a Header Tag, and in this case, the 2nd header tag on the page. The Page Title is being used as the H1 tag.

Continuing This Search Engine-Friendly Article About Search Engine Optimization.

As we continue with this tutorial about optimizing a website (or web page) for gaining search engine attention, notice the 3 elements above:

1. There is a bullet list in the section under the H2 tag. While this isn’t necessarily a necessity, it does have SEO-rich content, all within the important ideas in the article. A bullet list is orderly, it breaks up long swaths of text, and this, therefore, more readable. This has many benefits (but we won’t get into all that detail right now).
2. Then we have an image. It’s actually a colorful block of text but in the form of an image. Images have their own SEO characteristics if done properly and this article will have a link right here when the content describing the optimization of an image is created.
3. The image above also has a Call-to-Action. A call to action (CTA) is smart marketing because it’s designed to get a website visitor to make make a decision. I often recommend an offer such as a coupon, a limited time offer, or some kind of free and valuable information. When someone clicks on a link on your page and it takes them to another page on your website, therefore it’s a signal to Google that your website has value. It’s called an internal link. You’ll learn more about this in another article on our blog about the benefits of internal links.
4. Finally, we have another Subheading and this is the H3 tag. The H3 tag gets to be rather meaningless and any further heading tags can just remain as H3 tags. (Don’t use H1 or H2 tags more than once in a post or page.

Search Engine Optimization is One of Your Best Marketing Investments

When I say SEO is one of your best marketing investments, I’m talking mainly about your investment in time, not money. You, the business owner understand more about your products and your customers than anyone else. Since you know more about customers think about your product, the words they use and the questions they ask, you are the best person to create search engine friendly content for your website.

When the words and phrases on your website (particularly the page titles and header tags) are a close match to what a potential customer is searching for, your website will have a much better chance to appear at, or near the top of search results.

The Top Benefits of Good SEO:

1. Potential customers will find you at the precise moment when they’re in the act of making a buying decision.
2. It lasts indefinitely. Once you add content to your website, it stays there to serve you and your customers as long as your website does.
3. It gets better with age.
4. It allows you to compete with any size business in your field.
5. Building a good SEO website that attracts more new customers adds value to your business. Your website becomes an asset.

You can’t get these kinds of results from any other type of advertising, even with bucket loads of money to spend on it.

Learn more about the benefits of good search engine optimization here.

Marketing Ideas Calendar for May, 2019

The marketing ideas calendar is published here every month. It’s created to help small businesses make interesting, fun, and engaging marketing messages. More people will pay attention to, like, and share your social media posts and emails when they’re tied to a creative, or uncommon theme.

NEVER MISS AN ISSUE! SUBSCRIBE! click here.

Monthly Holidays

International Drum Month

National Asparagus Month

National Military Appreciation Month

National Motorcycle Awareness Month

Date Your Mate Month

National Barbecue Month

National Bike Month

National Egg Month

National Get Caught Reading Month

National Hamburger Month

National Photography Month

National Recommitment Month

National Salad Month

National Salsa Month

National Strawberry Month

The One Good Idea Newsletter

WEEKLY HOLIDAYS

May 6 – 12

Small Business Week

Nurses Week /  Teacher Appreciation Week

National Family Week

May 13 – 21

Bike to Work Week /  National Police Week

Food Allergy Awareness Week

American Craft Beer Week

May 19-25

EMS Week

National New Friends, Old Friends Week

May 20-27

National Backyard Games Week

May 28-31

Scripps National Spelling Bee

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DAILY HOLIDAYS

5/1/2019 Batman Day / Hug Your Cat Day / May Day

5/2/2019 World Tuna Day

5/3/2019 National Chocolate Custard Day

5/4/2019 Star Wars Day / Comic Book Day

5/5/2019 Cinco de Mayo / Lemonade Day

5/6/2019 No Diet Day / Nurses Day

5/7/2019 National Teacher Appreciation Day

5/8/2019 National Receptionists Day / Bike to School

5/9/2019 National Butterscotch Brownie Day

5/10/2019 National Shrimp Day / National Military Spouse Appreciation Day

5/11/2019 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day

5/12/2019 Mother’s Day

5/13/2019 National Hummus Day

5/14/2019 National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

5/15/2019 National Chocolate Chip Day

5/16/2019 Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day

5/17/2019 Virtual Assistants Day / Nascar Day

5/18/2019 National Learn to Swim Day

5/19/2019 Take Your Parents to the Playground Day

5/20/2019 National Pick Strawberries Day

5/21/2019 National Waitstaff Day

5/22/2019 National Vanilla Pudding Day

5/23/2019 National Taffy Day / Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Day

5/24/2019 National Scavenger Hunt Day

5/25/2019 National Wine Day

5/26/2019 National Blueberry Cheesecake Day

5/27/2019 Memorial Day

5/28/2019 National Hamburger Day

5/29/2019 National Senior Health and Fitness Day

5/30/2019 National Creativity Day

5/31/2019 National Smile Day

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Repurpose Marketing Content

The focus of this article is stretching your marketing dollars and turning your marketing investments into assets.

Every business owner hates waste and strongly desires squeezing every last drop from their investments in product, equipment, and marketing investments.

What IS Marketing Content?

Marketing content is an asset. A product or service featured on your website is an asset. Advertising (print ads, radio, TV), information, social media posts, email marketing messages, text marketing messages, printed material of almost any kind is an asset. Videos your business produces to stimulate sales, are assets. Here’s how to stretch their value, their reach, and transcend their cost.

Repurposing Content is Valuable, Economical, and Effective.

Once you have created a marketing message of any kind, you can use it again across multiple platforms. Sometimes, you can use it over and over again. Doing so makes every marketing message more valuable, economical, and effective.

Examples of Repurposing Marketing Content

Let’s take an example of a product or a service. I’ve got this fictitious item called a Fizbin. A Fizbin could be a menu item at a restaurant, a product you sell in your retail store, or a service provided by a plumber or electrician. It represents anything you want to promote.

You want to feature the Fizbin because it’s something you sell.

Have you listed it everywhere? Repurposing means using one piece of content and reusing it (repurposing it) in other ways.

• It has a place on your website.
• Thorough description.
• You promote it on your printed material or print ads.
• You have a photo of it on your social media profile and you can use it on social media posts.

Add a Page for Everything on Your Website

I suggest

1. Listing every product or service you sell in your business ON ITS OWN PAGE.
2. Then take this new page and post it on Facebook and Twitter. If your Twitter and Facebook page are linked, adding the post to Twitter is automatic. (Ask me if you need help with this.)
3. If you’re a Business-To-Consumer style business, add the product or service to Pinterest and Instagram. If you’re in a Business-To-Business style, post it on Linkedin. (Yes, Pinterest. Ask me why.)
4. No matter what kind of business you’re in, add the detail to Google My Business. (Want to show up high in the search results? This is crucial.)
5. If it has anything to do with a discount or promotion, add it to moderncoupon.com. (For a small fee, you can advertise coupons all year with unlimited changes and lots of extra benefits.)

Use Syndication-Nothing Should Stand Alone!

Reach more people through marketing syndication! Think about TV shows-When a popular show goes into its 2nd or 3rd season, they start showing reruns. After awhile, you’ll start seeing reruns on other TV channels. Reruns are syndicated so they reach a larger audience than a single time slot. This is the idea behind syndication: PUT YOUR MARKETING EVERYWHERE IT CAN BE.

Your marketing can be easily syndicated to multiple social media sites, blogs, directories (Like Yelp!, moderncoupon, Trip Advisor, and plenty more depending on your industry).

It takes a fraction of the time to syndicate (repurpose) the content you’ve already made. Use these techniques to stretch your marketing investment and reach a bigger audience.