Category: Newsletter

A Perfect Referral Strategy In 6 Steps

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referral business

Looking for referral business?

Who isn’t?

It’s common knowledge that referral business is great for your business on many levels. First of all, there is the fact that you are being recommended by someone who has already done business with you and has developed a trusted relationship. This alone speaks volumes to the new prospect, as there is already an inherit level of trust. Secondly, it results in deeper an longer lasting relationships.

We also have seen the statistics about how much it costs to get a new client, vs. the cost of keeping a client. Referral business, although not without some cost, is more about an investment of time than money.

Today, we reveal our simple, 6 step strategy to gaining referral business. Here’s the blueprint:

Step One:

Identify the top 10% of your higher-level clients who you believe would be open to giving you a referral. (Try to keep the numbers below 50, as managing more in any one campaign can be difficult to manage properly). In some cases, you many have already received one or more referrals. And don’t make the mistake of automatically adding your biggest clients based on revenue alone. You want to make sure these are clients who you think are most likely to provide referrals.

Step Two:

In the first month, mail these clients a simple gift, like a Starbucks Coffee card. Be sure to include a handwritten note saying something like, “Thinking of you. Your next cup of coffee is on me.” When mailing this gift, be sure to address the envelope by hand as well, and use a stamp on it, not your postage meter. This demonstrates personal attention and thought.

Step Three:

In the second month, mail them some information related to services or products that you think would be of interest to these folks, based on their individual history with you and your business.

Step Four:

In the third and fourth months, simply repeat steps 2 and 3.

Step Five:

In the fifth month, pay an impromptu visit to these clients to hand deliver a different simple gift. Try to find something that relates to your clients’ interests or hobbies. It needn’t be expensive; it’s the thoughtfulness that counts. Don’t overstay your welcome. As these are unplanned visits, keep them to about 10-15 minutes in length.

Step Six:

Keep working this program for the balance of the year, but in the fifth to sixth month, start asking these clients for referrals. You can do this in person or on the phone.

This process should result in tons of referrals, and you are likely to net about half of them as new clients.

The following year, keep those referring clients on a quarterly “maintenance program”, ensuring that they stay loyal to you. Then, identify another group of clients and run them run through this same program. .

This specific strategy dovetails perfectly with the ideal concept of a client service model that continues to add value and build business friendships. By mixing the components of added value and business friendship and respect, this program should keep you in referrals as long as continue to implement it.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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New Content Eluding You?

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content creation

Content creation well gone dry?

Here are a few things to try.

It happens to all of us. We understand that creating interesting and engaging content is a must. And we’ve built out our content calendar, providing regularly scheduled posts for our audience.

But what do we do when our creativity well seems to have gone dry?

It can be a difficult thing to continually provide new content for your readers. If you are a content purist, like me, you want to be sure that you are providing your website visitors with information that at the very least provides a bit of a take away. After all, if your content is not providing anything of value, why would people keep coming back to read and share your articles?

But every now and then it seems like there’s nothing new to tell your visitors. Remaining true to your brand means ensuring that everything that you do reflects the values and the fundamentals of that brand. That means that if you are a financial professional, your articles should reflect that brand and always speak to financial education and not run down another path writing about something like plumbing – or any other subject unrelated to the financial industry.

So what do you do when you can’t think of new content? Well, there are a few different things that you can try.

  • One thing that you can do is review your existing posts and repurpose any of your content that seemed to be very popular. Sometimes this can be as simple as updating some of the facts within the article, and sometimes this might mean recreating it as an audio presentation or in a slideshow format.  If people liked it the first time, they should like it again.  Remember that we all have taken new information from rereading a book or an article, and your post is no different.
  • Another thing to try is to take some of your less successful content and recreate it in a different format. Sometimes the way that material is delivered can be a bit of a stumbling block, and by reissuing your content in another format you could just overcome the previous resistance to the article.
  • We’ve all seen arguments both for and against guest blogging. In the earlier days of SEO, being or having a guest blogger was a good way to create back links to your site. As technology has improved and evolved, this doesn’t work as well, but there are many other benefits to guest blogging if done properly. By inviting an expert to share some of their insights on your website, you have the potential to develop a new audience. And if this expert shares news of their guest post with their audience, you could gain credibility and an enhanced reputation.
  • You could also offer something of value, like a white paper, an eBook, or perhaps even a plug-in or piece of software, to your readers as a way to thank them for continuing to follow and to share your content.

Of course, these are just a few examples of some of the things that you can do on those less-than-creative days when a new post is due. The most important thing to do is to make sure that you do continue to post on a regular basis. The people who are following your feed come to expect your posts, and developing a following is the first step to building a trusting relationship that will eventually lead to satisfied clients.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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Keep Your Eyes On The Prize – 3 Key Motivators

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how to stay motivated

Do you ever think that maybe it’s time to throw in the towel?

Sometimes it can be difficult to stay motivated.

As an entrepreneur, some days it can feel like all you do is fight an uphill battle. And sometimes, during these times, you can feel a bit overwhelmed and wonder if all this effort is worth it, or if you should just throw in the towel and try something else.

As someone who has been an entrepreneur for over 30 years, I have felt this pain. During my career, I have had some big wins and some big losses – probably something familiar to your story. And when I feel like throwing in the towel, I take the time to re-evaluate why I do what I do and what it would mean to change all of this.

To help keep you moving forward, I have compiled the following three motivators:

1. Stay focused. Sometimes we get overwhelmed simply because we are pulled into many different directions at once. Entrepreneurs are used to juggling many balls, but occasionally we can feel boxed in. Create a checklist of things you have to take care of and prioritize them. Take care of them in order, staying focused on the issue at hand. And don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get everything done. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

2. Stay positive. Yeah, I know. Sometimes this is easier said than done. But remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that the struggles you are contending with will pass. Be sure that you are surrounding yourself with people who support you and are a positive influence. Naysayers will only drive you deeper into negativity.

3. Stay true to yourself. As I mentioned above, when you’re wondering whether to keep going or to give it all up, take the time to reflect white is you do what you do. Create the list of pros and cons-and, of course, there are pros and cons to everything and every career. Then take an objective look and see which column has the most weight. Your decision will become clear.

One bonus motivator: Take a break!  Go for a walk, watch a movie, visit a friend.  Just give yourself a bit of time away and you’ll be surprised how refreshed and ready to jump back into the thick of things you’ll be.

Now, I’m not suggesting that at times it might not be best to shift gears and do something else. And, while most people dream of being an entrepreneur, it certainly isn’t the life for everyone. But if you are a true entrepreneur and you generally welcome and even thrive on the challenges thrown in your path, review these three key motivators, take a deep breath and get back in the game.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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The Truth About Content Marketing

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content marketing strategy

Even if you are using content marketing, you might still be missing the boat!

Much has been said about the value of content marketing in recent times. And, yes, most of it is true.

Search engine optimization has always been an important component of being found online. The ability to search has morphed over the years, creating a much easier and more functional way for web visitors to search for topics and items of interest to them.

But these improvements in search ability have been created by search engines changing the way they track information on the Internet. Algorithm changes, especially with Google (who still dominates the search engine world with approximately 87% of the search market), have changed the way that SEO marketers do their business – at least in a lot of cases.

In the early days of the Internet, people were encouraged to drop tons of keywords into their website copy, even if sometimes it didn’t even make that much sense. We were also encouraged to build backlinks to tons of websites, in the hopes of building authority.

Well, while the essence of these tools still works, the practicality of putting it into practice has shifted for the better.

While it’s still important to have backlinks, it’s more important that you have quality backlinks. If you have too many backlinks to questionable sites using questionable practices, this can actually harm your placement. And while keywords are still important, it’s important that they make sense, flow properly, and are used appropriately.

So, yes, content is king!

But make sure that your content is fresh, new, and relevant to your audience. Search engines are getting smarter and smarter and will penalize you if you are plagiarizing other content. There is nothing wrong with sharing someone else’s content on your site, but ensure that you are giving attribution and are sharing the information in a proper fashion.

Gone are the days of static sites. And by that I mean those sites that were built, put onto the Internet, and never updated. Adding new, fresh content on a regular basis is your best way to improve your ranking.

But what’s even more important than your search engine ranking?

Being relevant to your audience! By providing fresh content on a regular basis to your target audience, you will gain authority, followers, and-most importantly-respect.

So write often, post regularly and give something of value to your audience and you will win the battle to stay relevant and preserve your positioning.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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The Ad-Blocking Conundrum

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adblocking

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that ad blockers have become very popular.

Consumers have become fed up with having their digital experience interrupted by pop-up ads, ads showing up in the middle of articles, and just generally having to make do with less online real estate dedicated to the things that interest them.

Just take a look at these statistics released in the “2016 Mobile Adblocking” report from PageFair.

• At least 419 million people (22 percent of the world’s 1.9 billion smartphone users) are blocking ads on the mobile Web.

• Both mobile Web and in-app ads can now be blocked.

• As of March 2016 an estimated 408 million people are actively using mobile ad-blocking browsers (e.g., a mobile browser that blocks ads by default).

• As of March 2016 in Europe and North America there were 14 million monthly active users of mobile ad-blocking browsers.

• A further 4.9 million content blocking and in-app ad-blocking apps were downloaded from the app stores in Europe and North America since September 2014.

The increase of adblocking on the desktop began to slow in 2016, reaching its peak in 2018, before beginning to fall through 2020. However, over the last two years adblocking has started to rise again, with 290 million web users actively blocking ads worldwide in 2021.

As consumers, this trend proves that we were not alone in our dislike of online advertising.

But if you are a publisher or an advertiser – or even a small business owner trying to promote your business – these alarming statistics are cause for concern.

Over the past couple of decades, mainstream advertising has shifted its focus to the online world. After all, where can you get such broad reach for so little money? As social platforms and other forms of online advertising have grown, more and more screen real estate has been given over to revenue generating ads. In fact, some reports have stated that it won’t be long before organic reach is completely decimated in favor of paid results.

But it is clear that our patience and our tolerances have reached their limits and ad blocking has become the norm.

The biggest social media platform, Facebook, is fighting back. They are attempting to change their algorithm to manipulate ad blocking software and, in effect, creating unblockable ads. They’ve also instigated a program allowing users to exercise a bit of control over the advertising that they see. Obviously, online advertisers are watching how these techniques work to see if and how they can shift their strategies.

So back to the conundrum; as a consumer you hate the ads but as someone trying to grow your brand and convert visitors into customers, what can you do?

Well, organic search isn’t dead yet. And by using some techniques strategically, perhaps these strategies will maintain and improve the effectiveness of organic versus paid.

Try these quick tips to see how to improve your organic social reach:

1. Make sure that you are using your social sharing options on content pages. When users share your content this way the algorithms do not have the same impact.

2. Try to engage your visitors a little more by encouraging more user generated content such as on boxing videos or asking for reviews and comments.

3. Since people are more likely to read and interact with content from their peers, encourage employee advocacy.

4. Influencer marketing continues to be a great way to promote your brand. Leverage your influencer marketing as much as possible.

5. Create and share great content. Make sure that it identifies and solves your site visitors pain points.

6. Consider a referral program rewarding users for sharing your content.

7. If you are not including your social sharing options and handles in your emails, start doing so immediately.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Prepare For The Upcoming Popup Penalty

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mobile popup penalty

Google will be punishing ad pop-ups in three months!

In our last post, we alerted you to the fact that Google is going to be changing how they rank websites that are using intrusive pop-ups and interstitials as of January 10th, 2017.

And where you rank with Google could have a big effect on your business, since we all know that very few people search beyond page 2 or three of Google rankings.

There are benefits of this upcoming punishment. The biggest benefit is that visitors will have easier access to content without dodging forced pop-ups and interstitials distracting and annoying them. As well, there will be no forced subscriptions or accidentally clicking on call to action buttons.

But there’s also a bit of a dilemma. If you show an ad via pop-up or interstitial on a mobile device, odds are your Google ranking will suffer. But if you don’t show an ad, how is your offer going to be found and how will your email subscriber list grow?

Like everything, there is a solution to every problem. Google has green-lighted some popups which will not be considered punishable and, as a result, will not affect your search ranking.

Google Webmaster tools says that interstitials appearing as a result to a legal obligation (such as for cookie usage or age verification) will not trigger a penalty. Additionally, login dialogs on sites where content is not publicly indexable, such as emails or an indexable content behind a pay wall, is also safe. And banners using a reasonable amount of screen space that are easily dismissible will also not be punished.

Also of note, this penalty is applied on a page by page basis, which means that while the page will be demoted in Google search, the entire site will not suffer.  Unless, of course, you are running popups on your entire site. If so, you could see a global drop in SERPs, as each could take a small hit.

There are legitimate solutions that will keep your rankings safe while still popping up to offer your products and services and/or to grow your list.

Consider the following alternatives, converting intrusive pop-ups to friendly pop-ups.

1. Hide pop-ups on mobile devices. By using display targeting rules in your pop-up program, you can hide pop-ups and interstitials from mobile devices, showing them only on desktops, avoiding Google’s penalty

2. Change your delivery method. Instead of using pop-ups and interstitial on mobile, use smaller messages such as banners, in lines, or slide ins. Actually, some of these alternatives actually show a better conversion rate as they are smaller and adjust to screen size.

There are lots of providers of pop-up programming available, some paid in some free. Do your research now, find a provider for your business, and be prepared for the changes in January.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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Popup Punishment Around The Corner

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popup penalty

Are pop-ups your friend or your foe?

Well, that depends on whether you are using pop-ups for your website or online business, or if you’re an Internet surfer or website visitor.

Let’s face it, pop-ups can be annoying! All of us – even those who use pop-ups on their own sites – become impatient and annoyed with intrusive pop-ups. But pop-ups exist for one reason: they work!

Some statistics show that marketers have received a 1350% increase in subscription rates, as well as a conversion rate of 10 times by using pop-ups. And with mobile use increasing every year, many marketers have targeted their email subscription pop-ups to mobile devices as well as desktops, boosting their conversions to more than 1700%.

But all this is going to change as of January 10, 2017.

This is the date that Google has announced that it will begin penalizing mobile pages that are showing intrusive pop-up and interstitial ads, affecting their search results.

This is going to have a huge impact for many marketers as overlay pop-ups, full screen welcome mats and standalone interstitial have been huge conversion boosters for most people. But with Google still dominating the online search world, you had better be prepared for this change and begin looking for solutions.

There are three main reasons why Google started punishing sites using these for screen pop-ups and interstitials, keeping the user experience of mobile browsing in mind.

1. The main content is being blocked. Screen space on mobile devices is much smaller than on desktops, resulting in the main content of sites becoming obstructed with the display of pop-ups, overlays and interstitials.

2. Lousy user experience. Intrusive interstitials on pages results in a poorer user experience as compared to pages where content is immediately accessible. If your interstitials are spammy, difficult to dismiss, or diminish your users’ experience, your mobile page may be devalued.

3. Clicking ads accidentally. These pop-up ads tend to take up a huge amount of screen real estate while having the smallest possible buttons to close out and dismiss them, inevitably resulting in the user accidentally clicking on the ad.

So, what’s the penalty?

Google’s intention is to keep pace with the way users are accessing the Internet, and to ensure that users are finding the best answers to their questions as quickly as possible, regardless of the device. As a result, Google has decided to punish sites using these intrusive pop-ups on mobile devices, meaning if you continue to use these, your ranking may suffer if you are still using intrusive pop-ups for mobile users. Note that Google doesn’t penalize non-intrusive interstitials.

The three types of pop-ups and ads that are most likely to get you punished are:

1. An intrusive pop-up covering the main content, either immediately upon page load or while the visitor is looking through the page.

2. An intrusive interstitial that looks like a forced ad, requiring the user to dismiss before gaining access to the main content.

3. A full screen pop-up overlay, or standalone interstitial, requiring the user to dismiss before the main content is accessible.

There are pop-up solutions available that will help grow your lists and your conversions while coloring inside the new lines that Google has established. Use these guidelines and be prepared for next year. After all, as a user you will appreciate these changes.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

How To Find Your Dream Marketer

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professional marketer

When looking to grow your company, it makes sense to hire a marketing strategist.

Business owners don’t blink when it comes to hiring specialists for their business such as accountants, lawyers, and customer service reps.

Yet, for some reason, many entrepreneurs and business owners resist the move to hire a professional marketer. Many times they think it can be done in-house, often resulting in a haphazard approach and questionable results.

Keep in mind that your marketing team is what puts money directly into your pocket. Therefore, spending money in this area should be seen as an investment rather than simply an expense.

Hiring a marketing professional does come at a cost. Based on Robert Half’s salary guide for 2023, the median salary for a creative director is around $159,000 per year, depending on location. Adding benefits to this base adds an additional 25 to 40%, according to Joe Hadzima of the MIT Sloan School of Management. If you choose to hire a consultant rather than bringing on an employee, you will shave the benefit portion from these figures. But anyway you look at it, if you’re going to hire a quality marketer with any level of expertise, it will represent an investment.

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Avoid Google Penalties

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google penalties

Don’t get caught making these simple mistakes that could incur penalties and affect your traffic.

You don’t have to be a search engine optimization specialist to know that there have been some big changes in how Google ranks sites over the past few years.

Nearly anyone who has a website has heard of the Panda and Penguin updates Google made in the past few years.  And of course, Google continues to make changes to its algorithm to ensure it maintains its position as the top search engine. But be aware that these changes can affect how your site is seen by Google and you must do your best to stay on top of them so you don’t incur a penalty.

In the early days of search engine optimization, the “experts” would dump keywords heavily into content, often delivering something that might attract a higher ranking but certainly would not engage the reader. Another tactic was to build links with other sites that may have been low-quality links from directories and other spamming sites that few people ever really clicked on.

The changes that Google has made to their algorithms has actually resulted in better quality. These old tactics no longer work, thank goodness, and the trend has been toward content marketing. Providing people with content that is relevant and valuable to them has also proven to work well to assist with rankings.

But there are still some ways that you can inadvertently end up with penalties from Google while engaging in content marketing.

Avoid the following and your site is likely to stay safe.

1.  Lack of unique content: Another area where you can run into difficulty is by providing a lack of content that is unique. Duplicating other content in a copy and paste fashion is like playing Russian roulette and it is likely only a matter of time until your site is penalized. If you are an affiliate marketer, do your best to avoid the simple copy and paste method as well, as this will be seen as not providing value and may end up causing Google to penalize your site by lowering your ranking.  Do NOT plagerize!

2.  Over-optimizing or low quality internal content: What of the things that Google algorithms search for is the quality of your content within your website. Make sure you are providing unique, new content to your website on a regular basis and avoid rampant repetition of your content throughout your site. This not only will help you avoid incurring penalties, but also will significantly boost your organic rankings. Use different types of content as well, like podcasts, video as well as written blog posts. Google will notice and you should be rewarded.

3.  Keep current: I have often heard people say that they have finished their website. Now, I know what they mean by this, but keep in mind that your website is never finished. It should be seen as a living, breathing entity that requires some attention. Ensure that your website is kept current, removing content that is no longer valid, updating content, and making sure that all your links are working properly. If you don’t have current information on your site, not only will visitors not want to return but Google will also lose interest in your site.

The biggest penalty is to lose your ranking.  It is a difficult and never-ending job to stay on top of your optimization.  Don’t risk your reward by cutting a few corners.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Defining Your Marketing Strategy

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marketing strategy

Before you can define your marketing strategy, you must understand exactly what a marketing strategy is.

Simply put, a marketing strategy is a plan structured around the resources available to you to promote and grow your business, targeted to your defined ideal client.

So now that you have this definition, review the following list to measure the current status of your marketing strategy and consider where it could go by integrating a structured marketing strategy in the future promotion of your business.

The top dozen questions to define your marketing strategy:

1. First of all, what is it about your business that you are passionate about? Reflect back on what motivated you to start your company.

2. What is it that you provide to your target market in ways that differ from your competitors?

3. Just like people, businesses have – or should have – a personality. What is the dominant trait in your business that you want your customers to identify?

4. What does your ideal client look like? This, really should have been identified when you were planning your business. After all, you can’t be everything to everyone, and if you haven’t defined your client by now, your business is probably flailing.

5. You’ve heard about the “elevator speech”. What is yours? Come up with a simple 10-word message that defines, explains and excites prospects about your business.

6. How does your target market become aware of your business? Within this question, you should be able to identify where and how you can best reach your target audience.

7. How do you build trust? People do business with those they like, no, and trust. What are you doing that will build trust to your target market, assuring them that you are the best person to do business with.

8. How is your cash flow? Be realistic. If you aren’t honest with yourself about your cash resources, you can’t be realistic about what you can achieve. If you are in a position that you have assets but require interim assistance was financing projects, what revenue sources are available to help you grow your business?

9. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. By walking a mile in your clients’ shoes, you can define and refine the customer experience. Happy client not only becomes a repeat client, but also becomes a source for referrals by becoming an advocate for your business.

10. Once you have defined where you want to goal, what gaps in resources do you face? None of us are experts at everything. Define what you can do and either assign tasks to someone else in your organization in their area of expertise, or outsource to a professional.

11. Do you require partnerships with others in order to achieve your goals? In some cases, it makes sense to partner with complementary business professionals to keep costs down, share resources, and benefit.

12. Finally, now that you’ve answered all of these questions, what does the result of implementing this strategy look like? If you see any holes in the results, review the list again and refine your strategy further.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

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