The great thing about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is that when it’s done right, it doesn’t cost you extra time or effort. In fact, if you find yourself spending extra time tweaking your site for the search engines, or thinking about ways to game the system, you are probably undoing all of the good work you have done in the past. SEO is simple. The most important aspect of SEO is, “search engines love unique content”. Write new, original posts often, and you will have a well ranked site.

The following video is an excellent presentation called “Is SEO Evil?”, by Scott Gledhill. It was originally presented at Web Directions South 2007, in Sydney, Australia. In this video, Scott explains why SEO is a basic discipline that every blogger should consciously incorporate into daily practice. View the transcript, and all the slide text HERE, or view the author’s original post at Slideshare.net.

For more on this topic, please read “Vital Blog Search Engine Optimization Elements to Focus On”. This excellent post is from Haiming Jiang’s Internet Marketing and Personal Development Blog.

Between the video above, and “Vital Blog Search Engine Optimization Elements to Focus On” you should have an excellent grasp on what you should be doing as you build your online business, but here are a few more quick tips.

Use Keywords in your blog posts. Search engines rank the words in your titles more highly than the body text on your page. Put the words that you think people should find you by in the
titles of your blog posts, and they will be more likely to show up in search engine results.

Don’t copy content. Search engine spiders compare your content to everything else that the search engine has indexed. If your content is very similar to that of another site, or if your site contains lots of copied content, the search engines will give you a very low ranking (and it can hurt the original content creator, as well).

Work to get inbound links. An inbound link is a link from another site to yours. Sites with many inbound links look more important to search engines, than sites that have few inbound links. While you might think that there are few things you can do to get many inbound links, there are a few things you can do to easily begin to gather many inbound links. The first, and most simple, is to ask! Contact other website owners, with sites like yours, and ask if they would be willing to exchange a link with you. It is good form to always give a link when you get a link, consequently, you only want to seek out sites that you would be proud to promote.

The second way to gather tons of inbound links, is to comment on other blogs. Usually when you place a comment on a blog, you have the opportunity to enter your website address. Usually the blog will display your name or nickname as a link to your site. I have a few rules about this, and I encourage you to read my post on this subject, but as long as you follow a few simple rules, this is a great way to gather a ton of inbound links.

Don’t game the system. Search engines can and will block sites that they deem to be “gaming the system”. While placing hidden text in your site may seem clever while you are doing it, you will really be sorry when you don’t exist in the Googlesphere any more. Learn the rules, then follow them.

I encourage you to spend the next 1 1/2 hours or so, and watch the video and read the linked post. I guarantee you will see an increase in your website traffic as you implement these practices.

I was a computer wiz, could process my reports faster than most of the other assistants, and loved to organize the office, but on days when I was bombarded with responsibilities, I would go into a frenzy trying to figure out just how to get it all done.

After several weeks of my boss watching this go on, he explained to me that the one thing I was missing was making a list, prioritizing it, and then setting goals for myself at the beginning of each day.  The light finally went on and I realized that though I knew where I was supposed to be going, without a clear map of how to get there, I would continue to run around like a chicken with my head cut off.

So began my life of lists and Goal Setting.

Setting goals for yourself and your business is one of the most effective and efficient ways to make use of your time.  Through the years, I’ve learned that when goal setting, there are a few steps you absolutely must take in order to succeed.

Step 1: Be Realistic.  We all have big dreams, and dreams are good.  They are what drive us.  However, be honest with yourself and know what your abilities, time, and limitations will allow you to do.

Step 2: Be Passionate.  If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, chances are you won’t be very good at it.

Step 3: Plan Ahead.  Know where you want to end up and then work your way backwards.  Figure out what specific steps need to be taken in order to succeed and take things one-step at a time.  This will also help you to see the picture more clearly and be more realistic.  Also, set specific dates for when each step needs to be completed.

Step 4: Be Accountable.  Find someone you trust who will be willing to hold you accountable for the goals you set.  Give them your written list of goals and have them hold you to it.

Step 5: WRITE THEM DOWN.  This one is the most important.  If you hide them in your head, most likely that’s where they’ll stay.  Write them down and keep them in a location where you will see them. Refer to them often and don’t be afraid to revise them when necessary.

One of the best feelings in the world is crossing off your goals as you achieve them.  This might sound strange, and it’s probably more of a “girl thing”, but I also like to write my goals down on pretty paper.  It’s just a little more pleasing to my eye and gets me just a little more excited to look at the goals I’ve set for myself.

Well, now that I can cross this article off my list.  On I move to the next goal…

Happy Goal Setting!

I was going for the longest title and subtitle in blogging history.

Since the first “dotcom boom”, a web page has been a necessity for any serious business. While this is especially true for online businesses, it is equally true for brick-and-mortar, and home-based businesses. It is not even acceptable for a business to not have a website, and in fact, I would propose that it is not even acceptable for a business to have a mediocre website. When our kids can put together a highly trafficked MySpace or Facebook page in their spare time, we just have no excuse as business owners not to devote a portion of our resources to putting together a GREAT website. Customers make immediate judgments about a business the second they land on it’s website. In many cases, these are subtle, subconscious judgments, but they impact the business/customer relationship powerfully.

Luckily, since the “dotcom boom” and “dotcom bust” things have gotten much easier. There are so many powerful tools available that enable every business owner to produce a really professional looking site, with only a moderate amount of work. These tools truly negate any excuse that these businesses might have, for not having a website. Additionally, with the advent of “Web 2.0″, the proliferation of social networking sites has spurred the creation and refinement of many of the most powerful of these tools.

Without a doubt, my favorite tool for web design is Wordpress. Wordpress, has definitely benefited from the improvements in technology, brought about by the social networking craze. On the surface, Wordpress is just blogging software, but at the core, Wordpress is a Content Management System (CMS).

What the heck is a CMS, and why should you care? The purpose of a Content Management System is to collect data, organize it, and present it over the internet. It allows massive amounts of data to be presented in an orderly, and easily searched and navigated manner. It combines a server-level database, like MySQL, with a browser-displayed front end (a web page). In short, it makes designing a data heavy website a breeze. By data, I mean words, links, numbers, pictures, video, audio, customer accounts, passwords, code, or any combination of these: basically, the meat of a website. For a good example of data, managed by a CMS, take a good look at this site. It is filled with words, pictures, video, links, and on the back end, administrator, editor, author, and subscriber account information. It is also, very typical. If you can imagine having a site like this, or already do, you need to know about CMS.

While Wordpress isn’t the only CMS tool out there – in fact, there are countless others – It is my favorite, and if you have read this blog for any length of time, you know I recommend it all the time. I first used Wordpress in 2005 when I had to do a ground-up redesign of a real estate website, for one of my consulting clients. I had been designing web pages for about 9 years, and up until then, mostly edited HTML by hand, in TextEdit, or Notepad. I used to design every page of a site, verify it in multiple browsers, fix any problems, then upload all of the files to the host, using Fetch, Cyberduck, WS FTP, or another FTP program. I had used a couple of WYSIWYG HTML editors, but found them to be more of a hindrance or crutch, than a real benefit. Keep in mind, I designed HUNDREDS of pages this way. I had built several, highly complex sites like this: everything from a personal sites, band sites, record company recording studio sites, to the site for our high-end stationery store. It was a very tedious process, but it yielded great results for the time.

When I started the site redesign, I felt like my designs were starting to look a little dated, and I knew I needed to find a faster way to work. I had heard about Wordpress on Leo Laporte’s radio show, and thought I would give it a try. I installed version 1.5 (I think) and never looked back. I was able to create a great looking site with tons of content (50+ pages, MLS search, home value tools, mapping, lead capture forms, and more), in a very short time. It was a “Eureka!” moment.

Since then, Wordpress has only improved. I am currently running version 2.6.3, and it is excellent. It is highly customizable, and gives very professional results without a lot of work. Plus, if you are willing and able to dig in and do some real under-the-hood work, Wordpress can yield amazing personalized results. Because of the excellent Wordpress support forums, with a little searching, you can usually find great ideas for making your blog work exactly like you want it to, and usually there are clear examples of code that you can use or adapt, to make the needed changes.

I don’t expect you to know how to administer a MySQL database, or even install Wordpress. The good news is, you don’t have to, and if you do, all the better! Most web hosting services offer guided installation of CMS systems, in fact, Go Daddy has a one-click Wordpress Setup that I have used many times. It makes setting up a Wordpress blog take just minutes.

Take the time to dive in to the world of CMS. You will find that managing your website becomes much easier, and your site will look and perform much better as a result.

Wordpress Resources:

You can download Wordpress for free at Wordpress.org

You can cut your teeth on Wordpress, with a free blog, at Wordpress.com

My personal blog at www.GarrittHampton.com has tons of Wordpress tips: everything from Installation, to Themes, to Plugins, to the truly geeky stuff like editing CSS and php.

Check out the Wordpress Support Forums for expert help.

Check out http://wordpress.org/extend/ for great Wordpress Themes, Plugins and ideas.

Here are some of the other Wordpress posts on this site: http://RenegadeMarketingStrategies.com/?s=wordpress. Notice that some of these posts are for subscribers only. To access all of the VIP content on this site, subscribe to our newsletter.

I remember as a child my parents teaching me to have a good work ethic.  My mom always told me that even if I was having the worst day of my life, never let the customer, or my boss know it.  Have integrity and always put my best foot forward.

I continue to be amazed at the poor work ethic and lack of professionalism many businesses display.  If you want to succeed in business, you have to give your customer the respect and value they deserve.  After you gain their trust enough for them to provide you with their contact information (as addressed in part 1), be responsible with it.  Don’t use it to send out spam or other junk that will annoy them or waste their time, and certainly don’t sell their information or give it away.  Continue to provide them with valuable resources, products and information on how they can better their business or their lives.

Essentially, your customers will shop your business because they are in search of a solution to a particular problem.  Maybe your customer’s problem is that they need to find an all-natural approach to weight loss.  If you have a good quality, affordable resource for them, you can direct them to your website, through effective marketing, educate them on how to eat right, take proper supplements, and direct them in an effective exercise routine to help them lose weight.  Problem solved equals a happy customer, and a happy customer equals a return customer.

On the flip side, if your customer comes to you with the need to lose weight and you provide them with nothing but a little white pill, chances of them shopping with you again in the future are slim (no pun intended).  You have to gain their trust, keep their trust, and continue building the relationship.

Well, personally I don’t believe in karma, however, I do believe that most of the time in business, we will reap what we sow.  With all the competition for your business, most customers will come to you with a bit of skepticism and uncertainty until you prove to them that you really are worth their time, money, and energy.

Your customers will never trust you right off the bat.  You need to win their trust and you can do that in several different ways.  You can start by offering them something of value, for free.  For instance, you can offer them a free newsletter with good and helpful information on a topic that interests them.  You can offer them a free e-book written by you or someone else (with the author’s permission, of course) such as “The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing” by Ann Sieg (yes, it really is free.  Just click on the link).  You can also offer video or audio tutorials to help walk them through a new or difficult process.  Use you imagination and think of ways you are drawn in to other businesses.  What do other successful businesses do in order to gain the trust, respect and loyalty of their customers?

Once you have figured out a valuable, free product to entice your customers with, continue to build your relationship with them.  The way you do this is by first getting their contact information, then sending the free, valuable product.   If you have succeeded in gaining their trust, or even just piqued their interest in your business, you can continue to build a relationship and sell them on your business or product.  It’s business karma at its best!

Out of high school, at the age of 17, I had no clear direction on where I wanted my life to go (who really does at that age, anyway?). After attending a few classes at the local community college I decided that the military sounded like a good idea, so I joined and served in the United States Air Force for four years where I was trained as an aircraft electrician.

During my time in the Air Force, I learned many things about business. The first was that ANYTHING is possible. We performed seemingly impossible tasks daily, and never said, “that’s not my job”, or “I don’t think I can do that”. If there was a job to be done, no matter how complicated or how short the timeline, we found a way to do it. I also learned that I didn’t want to work for anyone but myself. So, after my departure from the Air Force, I decided to merge my love of music, and my love of not working for idiots, and I built and operated a small recording studio in the Los Angeles area. Along with the recording studio, my business partner and I started an independent record label.

I quickly learned that succeeding in business was so much more than knowing how to record or engineer music. As I began to understand what it took to establish, build and succeed in business, I quickly became intrigued by the world of business. I had taken business courses in college, but actually building a successful business as an entrepreneur was quite different than what I learned in the textbooks. My desire for a successful career caused me to dive in to every learning opportunity I could find. I began to read every business and marketing book I could get my hands on, went to training seminars, surrounded myself with other successful, some VERY successful, business owners, and learned a lot simply through trial and error. As I learned more about business, it became my passion. I love good business and good marketing, and I love the process of building systems and implementing the incremental, evolutionary, and revolutionary improvements that make a business great.

After owning the studio for a little more than four years, I decided I needed to move in a different direction, so I sold the company and began to look at other business opportunities. In time, my wife and I purchased a high-end retail stationery store, Paper Mulberry, which had been around for about seven years. We moved the business to a new location, and began to build systems, and grow our customer base. Yvette and I found that it was important to have clearly identified, and differentiated roles, so Yvette dealt with the customer service side of the business, I handled the operations and marketing.

As we adapted to our roles, and grew as a team, we enjoyed great success in business. Paper Mulberry grew rapidly, and we added staff and expanded our product line. We also built a successful website and online store to enhance our brick-and-mortar business. It was during the first year of business, that I really fine tuned my marketing skills. I had read and learned many things about effective marketing, but I hadn’t had the money, or opportunity to really put those things into practice before. With our purchase of the business, I definitely had the opportunity, and the business was producing plenty of money to put in place a very effective marketing and advertising campaign. Through the use of coupons, and direct response, I was able to track the effectiveness of each new campaign, and constantly worked to improve the results. Over time, our advertising became like a“faucet” and when we wanted to turn up our business, we just turned up the “faucet”.

In 2005 Yvette and I were blessed with our first child. Because we both wanted Yvette to stay home as a full-time mom, and I really couldn’t see myself selling wedding invitations and birth announcements forever, we decided to sell the business. It was when we listed the business, that I truly realized the impact of our marketing and system building efforts. Like many business owners, we had concentrated on the day-to-day aspects of building the business, and had never really stepped outside of the business to truly evaluate the effects of our efforts. Our business broker was excited to inform us, that we had the highest earnings per square foot of any business he had ever worked with. Every square foot of our little retail store produced almost $13,000 per year, in sales. Also, he was relieved to find that all of the preparation that goes into listing a business for sale, was already done. We had an up-to-date business plan, an operations and management manual, comprehensive business systems, and complete (and honest) financial records. Most importantly, the business was profitable. It made his job much easier, and added value to the business.

With the sale of Paper Mulberry, I began my career as a business and marketing consultant, and almost immediately, fell into a long-term consulting position (and Marketing Director title) at a real estate company. During this period, I helped other businesses on a short term basis, but was mainly focused on growing that business. In addition to bringing about great changes in the business, this was a great period of growth for me. I was able to dive deeply into the specialized world of real estate marketing, and attend some excellent seminars and classes. I made it a point during this time to take advantage of every opportunity I could, and it paid off.

When I arrived at Realty Response, the business was in a period of gradual decline. Even though the real estate market was still booming (for a while), Realty Response was stagnating. No one was responsible for advertising, and there was no marketing plan. Worse, there was no real direction, or plan for improvement. Suffice to say, dramatic changes were needed, but luckily, management was willing to allow major changes, and big successes followed.

During the first few weeks that I was there, I focused on reorganizing staff, and developing a cohesive plan for improvement. I began to systematize the business and wrote several manuals including business operations manuals, training manuals, and developed client presentations. As the plan was being refined, we began to implement some basic changes, that led to big results. The first thing we did, was begin a well tracked, direct mail advertising campaign. This allowed us to test marketing messages and begin to develop target markets. We would, later, shift much of the advertising budget away from direct mail, but this was a very good venue to begin a tested advertising campaign, and get the company moving forward again.

Over the next 2 years, we were able to increased sales leads by more than 300% and bring the company to top 10% performance among 400+ local real estate companies. We maintained, month-to-month, lead growth of 16% by continuously monitoring and refining advertising campaigns to increase their effectiveness. We were able to increase per transaction commission rates by 40.8% by revising the company’s commission structure. We started a sister company to provide referrals to the parent company, which produced over $1.5 million in business in its first year, and we launched an award-winning website, and implemented the company’s first complete Internet marketing system consisting of over 20 unique branded and unbranded URLs. Eventually, we reduced total advertising expense 75% by shifting focus from direct mail advertising to direct response Internet classifieds, pay-per-click, and other print campaigns, while continuously increasing the effectiveness of the company’s advertising.

Unfortunately, and as a testament to the depth and extent of the real estate market downturn, all the improvements couldn’t save Realty Response. The company had to make major cutbacks and relocate in order to weather the storm, and that meant I had to move on. I quickly found myself in another long-term consulting position at a market leading motion control company, and have remained there until now. While I have continued to work short-term consulting jobs for other small businesses, I have been blessed to be able to have a few long-term clients, and have been able to focus on the success of those companies. I am enjoying my position with a this very successful company, and am relieved to be able to focus on business improvements, rather than having to bail water from a sinking ship.

It is a great blessing to be able to expand my consulting reach through Renegade Marketing Strategies, and help many more small businesses achieve success. It is my passion to see these businesses flourish, and I am always happy to help.

garritt@renegademarketingstrategies.com