Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most underappreciated online arts. As a business owner, it can be daunting to try to navigate Google’s latest algorithm updates and stay on top of best practices when it comes to keeping your brand top-of-mind for consumers.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you can bury your head in the sand and ignore it. With SEO, the positive impact on your bottom line will be tangible, so it’s important to either: A) hire a professional who can execute the strategy for you, or B) make it your business to know some things you can do to maximize your individual efforts with things like link-building.
Continue Reading »
Who among us doesn’t have a pile of books that we’ve read, with little stubs of paper scattered throughout them marking the reallygood stuff? Or pages of notes from conferences, which, after we get home, just kinda languish uselessly in a notebook, growing dust?
But the process of going back through all of that information and turning it into something actually usable can be a major pain. Even if you know that you need to do so to turn your knowledge into action (action that’ll grow your business!), it can be overwhelming when you don’t have a process.
Continue Reading »
It’s not the fun sexy part, focusing on your business goals when creating your social media campaigns. Aligning your business goals with your social media goals, often is the missing step for both big and small brands.
Social media offers businesses a path to gain trust, credibility and longevity. Even a few years ago, reaching a larger audience was not within a touchable distance for small business, no matter how well you danced in your industry or vertical.
Continue Reading »
Our “50 Women We Think You Should Follow On Twitter” list was due out today BUT due to an unexpected pollen attack (the pollen won) – we’ve had to postpone.
So, allergies BE GONE! And we’ll have our list up as soon as possible.
Sorry for the delay!
Achoo!
Continue Reading »
Where you post content in social media is just as important as what you post.
Simply syndicating the same content to all your networks at once, once a day, can send a message to your audience that they’re not really worth the effort. (Because you’re not really making any, are you?)
Continue Reading »
If you have a local business online marketing tools should be your best friend. Truth be told, most local business owners completely overlook the power of online marketing for their business. As a result, there has never been a better time to leverage the power of local search engine ranking. If you apply even two of these five easy methods for improving your local online presence, you’ll surely outrank your local competition.
Continue Reading »
Making efforts to “green” your business not only helps preserve this planet we share, but also shows your customers that your company is committed to doing its part to act responsibly. Additionally, these conservational tips will likely save you some green.
Go paperless. This is easier than ever (thanks, technology). Besides saving trees, going paperless reduces clutter and physical space required for file storage.
• Request e-billing from vendors and utility companies, and offer e-billing to your clients and customers.
• Create PDFs of important documents so you can e-mail information rather than printing and mailing it.
• Converting to an electronic filing system saves reams of paper and, very possibly, your sanity because keyword searches make important files easier to find. However, don’t forget to back up your files on an external hard drive or a secure cloud-based product.
Continue Reading »
I hope you’re not hungry because today I’m combining two of my fave pleasures – food and organizing.
Imagine a lasagna fresh out of the oven. Perhaps, like me, you are impatient and cut into it too soon. That beautiful, smooth layer of cheese on top gives way to layers desperate to fall apart. As we persist on getting the lasagna on our plate, it just splays out into a rich, hot mess.
Many people’s homes are like this, too.
Upon first entrance, it seems lovely. Beautiful. You might even go so far as to think they’re organized.
Then you dig in.
Drawers explode upon opening. The drawers may not open at all from being over-stuffed with things. Open a closet too quickly, and the contents may fall into a hot mess on top of you. Cabinets seem to have been arranged by a group of evil circus clowns on a drunken bender.
Continue Reading »
Anne Deeter Gallaher and Amy D. Howell will launch their first book, Women in High Gear: A Guide for Entrepreneurs, On-Rampers, and Aspiring Executives, on Tuesday, May 21, at the Waldorf Astoria, New York City.
“Conversations on women and work, women and leadership, and women as executives have captured global attention. We are excited to add to the conversation with our experiences in Women in High Gear,” said Deeter Gallaher and Howell, both of whom founded and run public relations firms and strive to balance work and family expectations.
As business owners who met on Twitter in 2009, the duo realized that their different stories of business success and family/career balance would encourage and help women of every career stage. “Whether you’re a recent graduate, returning to work, or running your own business, the value of reaching high gear is critical to our economy,” the authors said.
Continue Reading »
A few years ago, I was a successful consultant wishing for more. I knew that consulting wasn’t where I wanted to be in terms of my greater career aspirations, but I wasn’t sure what was.
I wanted to own my own business. I wanted to have a product or service. I wanted to like what I did for a living every day.
And I definitely did NOT want to be beholden to utilization rates or annual reviews (Nothing kills your soul faster than trying to figure out how to suck out more billable hours on a project so you don’t get laid off, amiright?).
And then it hit me awhile after I read Steve Jobs’s famous speech at Stanford and actually connected the dots from my past and saw some of the themes: I should be a coach! I should do what I already love, but do it for money instead of for ice cream and hugs.
Continue Reading »
