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Posts Tagged ‘business development’

Small Business Search Engine Optimization

February 3rd, 2010 No comments

The online marketing industry is really buzzing these days with the talk of the search engine optimization industry. For new businesses though, all of this talk of SEO and bantering about acronyms can get a bit confusing – small business are left wondering just precisely what this industry is and if they need to consider optimizing their own sites.

Small business are on tight budgets and finding the money to pay for proper search engine optimization, or find DIY instructions can seem daunting. One of the big myths in the industry is that SEO has to be incredibly difficult and that it’s not worth the effort it takes to properly optimize. That’s just case though and every single small business with a monetized site selling products and services benefits from the traffic that major search engines bring to their virtual doorstep.

Small businesses and monetized blogs have a lot of potential to benefit from niche and targeted traffic from the major search engines. The real key though, and something not understood by all new companies launching into online marketing efforts, is that only targeted search traffic is actually beneficial. SEO is intended to allow your site to place in the search engine for valid keyword for which a potential client would likely search for your product or service.

Ideal search engine optimization on the other hand is intended to bring organic search traffic into your website with specific keywords that your target market is likely going to be using to find your business. SEO efforts, as a part of a total online marketing campaign, are intended to boost a site’s natural and organic placement in the search engine.

SEO is primarily a tool that savvy online marketers and small businesses can use to enhance their existing web presence. Better yet, search engine optimization is designed to better focus a small online businesses web efforts on the keyword that are most likely going to bring in specific and targeted search traffic that will find value in the products and services offered on the site.

In essence this all boils down to the fact that SEO is a really key part of any online marketing efforts from small businesses. Spam sites are not using ethical SEO methods and that’s why they have a bad wrap. The key difference for small businesses is the focus and attention to niche keywords that they sites use when they are optimizing their sites for the search engines. Only targeted traffic is beneficial to a new website and SEO ensures that only relevant searchers are finding your site.

For small businesses in travel and tourism, the DIY SEO Services for Small Businesses provide a range of search engine optimization specific products developed by Travel Online Partners, leaders in online marketing strategies for small businesses in the travel industry.

Packaging And Shipping Your Products

January 25th, 2010 No comments

Every industry that exists across the globe functions on two basic principles, demand and supply. In order for a company to survive in any industry it must be able to meet the needs of those who demand their products and services.

Even if a company has a wonderful product that is constantly demanded on the market, that does not guarantee the survival of the company. The company must have an efficient method in which to get the product to its customers. Failure to get the product to consumers in a prompt manner will cause the slow deterioration of company sales.

Many companies across the US have had to learn this fact the hard way. For example, many food product companies have had to rely on distribution corporations in order to get their products to the various supermarkets across the nation. Quite often, the distribution companies would have a difficult time servicing a particular area, and, as a result, that area would remain unserviced for weeks if not months leaving the product extinct in that area.

It is indeed true that a company that does not have to worry about making sales to supermarkets only has to make its sales to its distributers and leave it at that, but every capitalist knows that business growth is equivalent to business survival, and a business that is not growing will not be able to survive in the long run. Therefore, it is always necessary to make sure that not only should every existing area be well serviced, but more newer territories should be opened up to expand the range of consumers.

These companies also did not realize the advantages to being seen on supermarket shelves. Being seen in the eye of the consumer is the best possible advertisement that exists, and therefore more and more distributors would demand access to the products. The opposite is also true that when there is a lack of interest, distributors also are no longer interested in purchasing the product.

It is quite clear that the key to a successful business besides for making a good product is to use distributors that have the capacity to service every area and have outstretched arms throughout the nation to get their product everywhere. Another possibility, although costly, is to invest in a company owned distribution center.

If the company owns its own packaging services and trucks, shipping will become a whole different ball game. The burden of being dependent on foreign companies and their deficiencies to get products to stores is entirely eliminated, and if any problems arise regarding distribution, the matters are taken care of internally.

Of course, this would be an option available only for a company that could afford such a project, as it is quite a costly one. Until a company is big enough to handle that, a good distributor could take care of the project as well.

Bella C. Fletcher is a company strategist who specializes in company packaging and distribution. For more information concerning the benefits of pick and pack services check out the Bergen Shippers website online. Bella is an SEO specialist working at SEO services group ClickResponse.

How To Sell To Big Companies By Understanding Decision Making Processes

January 23rd, 2010 No comments

When you’re selling products or services to corporates progress can often be painfully slow – like you’re “wading through treacle”. Often the problem, however, is not the speed of the big company’s decision-making process per se – but your lack of understanding of that process and how to manage it.

If you’re selling anything of any size or complexity to a corporate then you’ll have to deal with complex, multi-level decision-making processes with multiple stakeholders.

Veteran salespeople who have worked on key accounts over a long period of time gain one of their critical advantages over “outsiders” by knowing how the decision making process works. But smart newcomers can begin to cut through the complexity – provided they are prepared to address the issue of the decision-making process openly with their potential customer.

Some salespeople shy away from doing this. They don’t feel comfortable asking questions which could seem “political” if not handled sensitively. But in fact, asking smart questions about decision-making also helps your client navigate through those processes themselves – and they’ll appreciate your help for that.

Like many things in sales, the key to navigating the decision-making process is to ask good questions.

Firstly, it’s vital to identify the key players in the decision making process and to understand their motivation. Typical questions you might ask are:

* Who are the key people involved and impacted by this issue? * What is their perspective on the issue? * What is their motivation for solving the problem? What’s in it for them? * Is this really an urgent priority for them?

Drawing out a decision or stakeholder map with the client at this point can be hugely beneficial – as long as they don’t begin to feel you’re being too manipulative or self-serving.

The next thing to understand is the decision-making process itself.

* What level of approval is needed for different levels and types of expenditure * What is the timing of key events – for example it’s quite normal for project or financial approval boards to meet only quarterly and require all documentation weeks in advance – you need to know this timetable and the requirements – and know how to get on the approval schedule

If you understand the answers to these questions you’ll be able to meet up with the right people at the right time to maximise your chances of winning a sale.

For more articles and ideas, visit Ian Brodie’s blog on Marketing Professional Services or check out his Business Development Coaching services.