EASY Ways to Get Traffic to Your Website

Hello and welcome to Small Business EASY Branding Tips.  Brought to you by SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists), working to help Small Businesses Survive through EASY Sales. 

Over the past several weeks, we’ve talked about EASY Small Business Brand Marketing Tips, ways to build traffic to your website and/or blog, and “The Basics of Branding and Why Anyone Can Do It”.  We detailed the 4-Step Common Sense Branding Strategy that I think most small business owners should be aware of when seeking to create, build, and enhance their company’s brand: 

• Step 1: Determining & Defining Your Brand.
• Step 2: Researching Your Market and Positioning Your Brand to Capitalize on a Sector of it.
• Step 3: Launching Your Brand.
• Step 4: Managing, Monitoring & Tweaking Your Brand 

In this week's podcast episode, we recap our previous tips, as well as highlight some more ways you can drive traffic to your website.

First, we talked about blogging and how it can be used as a way to build your reputation as an authority on your topic, by delivering timely content that insures that you stay relevant with your core audience.  Getting started with blogging is fairly easy, as you simply need to:

• Choose a Blog Service. 
• Customize your Blog with your brand: (e.g. blog.yourcompanyname.com or www.yourcompanysblog.com). 
• Incorporate Good Content. 
• Allow Reader Comments and Feedback and Cross-link and Promote other Bloggers. 

Next, we moved on to email marketing and newsletters, and how you can not only build your reputation as an authority on your topic, but you can also stay connected with your audience through email, and possibly lead them to a call to action of your choice, based on your relationship with them that has been enhanced through email marketing. 

 

Getting started with email marketing and newsletters is pretty easy too, since all you need to do is: 

 

• Sign up for an Email Marketing Service and use all their tools effectively (especially the Analytics): MailChimp has a great “Forever Free” option that can get you started with email marketing if you don’t already have a list, or have a short list to start with.  They give you up to 500 subscribers and you can send up to 3000 emails a month on this free plan.
•  Add people to your list (ethically). 
• Create Interesting Topics. 

 

The next topic we talked about was podcasting (or digital audio broadcasting), and building traffic to your website through talking about your expertise via broadcasting your own radio show, that isn’t live, and people can choose to download it and listen to it at their leisure.  The great thing about podcasting is that it’s fairly simple to set up and get going, where all you need to do is: 

 

• Create the Podcast File: Using a computer, a microphone, and some free audio recording software like “Audacity”. 
• Upload and Store the File: With a service like LibSyn. 
• Disseminate the File to RSS readers. 

 

Then finally, last week we talked about “EASY Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) Tips” and things you can do to be sure that your website is search engine friendly and can drive organic traffic through search results.  The main idea here was to be sure that you give search engines enough information to be able to make the right choices about the relevancy of your website in relation to keywords that are specifically optimized on each of your site’s pages.  Those tips only scratched the surface, so if you’re really interested in learning more, here's a great resource: Search Engine Optimization All-in-One For Dummies by Bruce Clay and Susan Esparza.  It’s a great 10-in-1 book that gets into just about everything you need to know, and it gets into the finer points of Search Engine Marketing, and it also includes a $25 gift card for trying out Google AdWords. 

 

In the next few weeks, we’ll be talking more about ways that you can drive traffic to your site, specifically delving into the topics of Pay-Per-Click Advertising, and how to leverage your participation in online communities and visiting other’s blogs to continue to build your reputation with the time that will eventually lead people to your site.

Reminder: Within the next few weeks, I’m going to have a podcast episode devoted entirely to questions and answers from you, my listening audience, so please submit your Small Business Branding Questions for that upcoming episode.  You can visit our website sss4success.com and go to the Contact Us page to submit your question, or reach out to us via email at “podcasts[at]sss4success.com”, or finding us on Twitter (@sss4success), or leaving a comment below.  Don't forget to stop by our Facebook Fan Page and let us know you LIKE what we're doing.


Also you can submit your feedback about this site here: Small Business Branding Tips Blog Survey.  If you’re a Small Business Owner that has been in business for a while, please fill out this survey.  We’d really appreciate your input on both, if you have the time. 


Finally, if by chance, you would like to learn more about how EASY Sales can help your bottom line, then give us a call at 615-336-4325.

Have a great day!

Kindra Cotton

If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free!

By the way, Transcripts are now available upon request.  If you want one, please email us at "transcripts[at]sss4success.com".

Specials Are Ending Soon!

It has been a pleasure to offer all of the Specials that have been available at SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialsts), but all good things, must come to an end!

As I stated when we announced them, they were only available at these prices for a LIMITED time, thus at the Close of Business on Monday, July 26, 2010, the following specials will be ending:

• The Personal Branding Special: $150 for a 30-minute Tech/Social Media Consultation, a Professional & Stylish 4-Page Website, a personal email address (i.e. you@yourname.com), and a full-page (Color) Digital One-Sheet (print is available at an additional charge).
• The Authors Special: $150 for a 30-minute Tech/Social Media Consultation, a Professional & Stylish 4-Page Website, a personal email address (i.e. you@yourname.com), and a full-page (Color) Digital One-Sheet (print is available at an additional charge).
• The Authors SEO Special (for established authors with a web presence): $150 for a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Analysis Report, a 60-minute Technology and Social Media Consultation, and a 30-60 Day Self-Guided SEO Action Plan.

If you'd like to take advantage of one of these specials before they end, please get in touch with us through the Contact Us page on our sss4success.com website, or call us at (615) 336-4325.

Thanks,

Kindra

EASY Podcasting: Building Web Traffic Through Expertise

Hello and welcome to Small Business EASY Branding Tips.  Brought to you by SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists), working to help Small Businesses Survive through EASY Sales. 

This week’s topic is: “EASY Podcasting: Building Web Traffic Through Expertise”.  In a previous post, I talked about “The Basics of Branding and Why Anyone Can Do It”.  In that post, I detailed the 4-Step Common Sense Branding Strategy that I think most small business owners should be aware of when seeking to create, build, and enhance their company’s brand.
Those steps were: 1^st: Determining & Defining Your Brand. Step 2: Researching Your Market and Positioning Your Brand to Capitalize on a Sector of it. Step 3: Launching Your Brand. Step 4: Managing, Monitoring & Tweaking Your Brand (Note: That’s “tweaking” your brand, meaning make minor revisions, not tweeting your brand, which is more so a function that occurs under Step 3).

In this week's post, I talk about how to use podcasting (or digital audio broadcasting) to build bring web traffic either to your blog or to your website, and to enhance your overall brand, so we’ll specifically be talking about Steps 3 & 4. 

Podcasting is like broadcasting your own radio show, that isn’t live, and people can choose to download it and listen to it at their leisure.

I recently got into podcasting and it’s an activity that I enjoy because it’s another way to connect to my audience, and I’m going to give a general overview as to how you can get started with EASY Podcasting. 

The first step towards having a successful podcast series, is to have a website or blog, just so your audience can have a central location to gather, and/or find your information if they choose to look somewhere else beyond their RSS reader.  You don’t necessarily need a website or a blog, but if your goal is to build your brand, then you should certainly have one or both.

Creating the actual podcast episode itself is something that requires 3 steps:
 

1. Creating the File: To create a podcast episode, you need to have a microphone, and audio editing software.  In order to record a decent quality podcast, I purchased the moderately priced Logitech ClearChat Comfort USB Headset, and downloaded the Audacity Free Audio Editor and Recorder with an MP3 encoder plug-in to allow me to export MP3 files.
2. Uploading and Storing the File: I upload and store my files on the web hosting and storage accounts I already have at my disposal, but an easier alternative to this would be LibSyn (short for Liberated Syndication).  While I don't use LibSyn personally, I would highly recommend it because it's economically priced (starting at $5/month and up), and they provide a lot of the tools you need to upload and distribute your podcast files.
3. Disseminating the file to RSS readers:  If you use LibSyn, this part will probably be taken care of for you, but if you choose to do it yourself, you can take your website/blog URL over to Feedburner and burn a Feedburner RSS feed, then submit it to iTunes, as well as the Microsoft Zune Marketplace.  My experience has shown the iTunes process to be easier and more user-friendly, and their turn around time for getting podcast episodes listed is great!

With your podcast episode recorded, uploaded, and ready for subscription, be sure to use Twitter and Facebook, and all of the other social media tools out there to bring attention to your blog, and encourage people to visit your site and hopefully subscribe to your content, if they find it helpful. 

There are certainly a variety of ways that you can go about setting up your own podcast series, and tons of helpful resources out there to get you started.  What I’ve talked about today is what I’ve done, but you’re more than welcome to check out the many websites and other resources out there on this topic.  For example, you can visit Cliff Ravenscraft's Podcast Answer Man website and check out his Podcasting 101 podcast that helped me learn the basics before I started podcasting.

Please keep in mind that we here at SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists) are always here to help with our Social Media & Technology Training Packages to help you get a better grasp on podcasting and all the variety of tools and resources that are out there, and how you can learn to use them for yourself to grow your business.

Note: Within the next few weeks, I’m going to have a podcast episode devoted entirely to questions and answers from you, my listening audience, so please submit your Small Business Branding Questions for that upcoming episode.  You can visit our website sss4success.com and go to the Contact Us page to submit your question, or reach out to us via email at “podcasts @ sss4success.com”, or finding us on Twitter (@sss4success), or leaving a comment below.  Don't forget to stop by our Facebook Fan Page and let us know you LIKE what we're doing.

Finally, if by chance, you would like to learn more about how EASY Sales can help your bottom line, then give us a call at 615-336-4325.

Have a great day!
Kindra Cotton



If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free! 

By the way, Transcripts are now available upon request.  If you want one, please email us at "transcripts[at]sss4success.com". 
 

Transcripts Now Available Upon Request

The method of posting a long list of transcripts on the "Transcripts" page, simply isn't working.

It isn't efficient for us to post, and it surely isn't efficient for readers to have to scroll for pages and pages in order to read a new week's content.

Therefore, Transcripts are now available upon request.

If you'd like a transcript of a previously posted episode, please email "transcripts[at]sss4success.com" with the title and/or date, and we'll get one promptly sent out to you.



If you know of a solution to getting transcripts disseminated in a more seamlessly integrated way, please let me know.
 
Thanks for your continued support.

Kindra

Blogs & Blogging | How to Build Web Traffic Through Information

Hello and welcome to this week Small Business EASY Branding Tip.  Brought to you by SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists), working to help Small Businesses Survive through EASY Sales. 

This week’s topic is: “Blogs & Blogging: How to web build traffic through information”.  In a previous post, I talked about “The Basics of Branding and Why Anyone Can Do It", and detailed the 4 Step Common Sense Branding Strategy that I think most small business owners should be aware of when seeking to create, build, and enhance their company’s brand.  Those steps were: Step 1: Determining & Defining Your Brand. Step 2: Researching Your Market and Positioning Your Brand to Capitalize on a Sector of it. Step 3: Launching Your Brand. Step 4: Managing, Monitoring & Tweaking Your Brand (Note: That’s “tweaking” your brand, meaning make minor revisions, not tweeting your brand, which is more so a function that occurs under Step 3).

In this week's tip, we’ll talk about how to use blogs to build traffic by providing relevant information to your audience on a timely schedule, including how blogging can be used as you launch, manage, and monitor your brand, so we’ll specifically be talking about Steps 3 and 4.

Blogging can be the way that you build your reputation as an authority on your topic, and by delivering timely content, you can insure that you stay relevant with your core audience.

Because so many people have blogs these days, many now think it’s intuitive, and everyone knows how to do it, but I still think that a tutorial can be useful to some, so I offer this one, with the slant on how it can be used to build and enhance your brand.

Here's what you need to do to use blogging to build web traffic through information:

• Choose a Blog Service: Consider free services like Blogger or WordPress.
• Customize your Blog: Choose a template design that visually represents your brand and a domain name that is branded towards your company's identity (e.g. blog.yourcompanyname.com or www.yourcompanysblog.com).
• Incorporate Good Content: Set a blogging schedule, stick to it, and outline topics in advance for the weeks to come.
• Allow Reader Comments & Feedback: This gives you a feel for what your audience is thinking and how you can improve content over time.
• Cross-link and Promote other Bloggers: Be sure to read and get a “feel” for the blog before linking to it.

Speaking of feedback, we'd appreciate your feedback on our "SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing) Blog Visitor Feedback Survey". 

Finally, please know that we here at SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists) are available to produce blog content on your behalf as "Social Media Branding Specialists" or via our Social Media & Technology Training Packages to help you get a better grasp on blog tools and how to use them for yourself. 

Feel free to listen to this week's podcast by clicking the player below, downloading it and/or subscribing to this podcast series in iTunes, or reading the Transcripts of this week's episode HERE, to learn more.

I hope you found this week’s tip helpful. 

Within the next few weeks, I’m going to have a podcast episode devoted entirely to questions and answers from you, so please submit your Small Business Branding Questions for that upcoming episode.  You can visit our website sss4success.com, reach out to us via email at “podcasts @ sss4success.com”, or finding us on Twitter (@sss4success).

By the way, if you’re a Small Business Owner that’s been in business for a while, please do us a favor and fill out that brief survey and tell us a bit more about your entrepreneurial experiences.  We’d really appreciate your input. 

Finally, if by chance, you would like to learn more about how EASY Sales can help your bottom line, then give us a call at 615-336-4325. 

Have a great day!

Kindra Cotton

The First Steps in Building Your Brand

Hello and welcome to this week Small Business EASY Branding Tip.  Brought to you by SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists), working to help Small Businesses Survive through EASY Sales.

This week’s topic is: “The First Steps in Building Your Brand”.  In a previous post, I talked about “The Basics of Branding and Why Anyone Can Do It", and detailed the 4 Step Common Sense Branding Strategy that I think most small business owners should be aware of when seeking to create, build, and enhance their company’s brand.  Those steps were: Step 1: Determining & Defining Your Brand. Step 2: Researching Your Market and Positioning Your Brand to Capitalize on a Sector of it. Step 3: Launching Your Brand. Step 4: Managing, Monitoring & Tweaking Your Brand (Note: That’s “tweaking” your brand, meaning make minor revisions, not tweeting your brand, which is more so a function that occurs under Step 3).  

In this week's tip, we’ll talk about the building blocks of your brand, so we’ll specifically be talking about Steps 2 and 3.

It’s important to lay the right foundation and know what you stand for with your company, what need you fill, and how you’ll go about fulfilling that need in a solution-oriented way that keeps your customers happy.  In completing Step 2: Researching Your Market and Positioning Your Brand to Capitalize on a Sector of it, market research is key because it helps you specifically define your target market, and it gives you a good idea of your standing in the market against your competitors.

Feel free to listen to this week's podcast by clicking the player below, downloading it and/or subscribing to this podcast series in iTunes, or reading the Transcripts of this week's episode HERE, to learn more.

I hope you found this week’s tip helpful.

Within the next few weeks, I’m going to have a podcast episode devoted entirely to questions and answers from you, so please submit your Small Business Branding Questions for that upcoming episode.  You can visit our website sss4success.com, reach out to us via email at “podcasts @ sss4success.com”, or finding us on Twitter (@sss4success).  

By the way, if you’re a Small Business Owner that’s been in business for a while, please do us a favor and fill out that brief survey and tell us a bit more about your entrepreneurial experiences.  We’d really appreciate your input.

Finally, if by chance, you would like to learn more about how EASY Sales can help your bottom line, then give us a call at 615-336-4325.

Thanks again for listening and have a great day!
Kindra Cotton

The Basics of Branding and Why Anyone Can Do It

Hello and Welcome to the second blog post and podcast for Small Business EASY Branding Tips.  Brought to you by SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists), working to help Small Businesses Survive through EASY Sales, where the acronym EASY represents our company’s ability to help small businesses: Establish the profile of their "ideal customer"; Analyze products & services to tailor them for the "ideal customer"; Secure the most effective ways to build and maintain customer relationships; and finally Yield an enhanced brand that increases sales by attracting more customers and repeat business.  


As the creator of the EASY Brand Marketing Program, and I thank you for reading this blog and listening to our podcast series.  I started SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists) because I saw a true need for the varied services that became part of the EASY Brand Marketing Program.  


As I got out and talked to people about what I do, I found that people who worked in places that sought to help small business owners, like Small Business Development Centers and Business Incubation Centers got what I was doing, but when I talked to small business owners themselves, I would often receive the “deer in headlights” look or a blank stare that told me that I needed to spend more time actually educating small biz owners on the need for branding (especially in the early stages) and how each of the steps of the EASY Brand Marketing Program are actually cost effective in the long- and short-term.  I also wanted to show how the results of incorporating the program early on actually improves your business because it brings you the increased sales that you need to help you stay in business for a long time to come. 


I decided to create this podcast series, because I wanted a platform to share weekly EASY Brand Marketing Tips, and hopefully help small business owners in the process.  This week’s podcast is titled “The Basics of Branding and Why Anyone Can Do It”.  (You can CLICK HERE to read the Transcript by scrolling down to "Episode 2").  


In this week's podcast, I get into the specifics of what I like to call "the 4 Step Common Sense Branding Strategy" and I talk about what I think most small business owners should be aware of when seeking to create, build, and enhance their company’s brand:

• Step 1: Determining & Defining Your Brand. 
• Step 2: Researching Your Market and Positioning Your Brand to Capitalize on a Sector of it. 
• Step 3: Launching Your Brand. 
• Step 4: Managing, Monitoring & Tweaking Your Brand. 

I’m certain that there are very high-powered and high-priced brand marketing strategists and specialists all around who’ll argue against that title blog post/podcast, and its basic assumption that anyone can do it, but arguing that point is not what I’m here for.  I’m not a brand marketing strategist with "20 years experience at one of the largest ad firms in the nation", or anything that would make other people’s heads start spinning with impressive titles and a litany of brand names they’ve worked for whose names we all know and love.

What I am is a person who is passionate about small businesses, and the steps that they need to take to stay in business so that one day they’ll be able to hire the big fancy expensive brand strategists when they’re ready to go to the next level.  I like to focus on the smaller, logical, and economical things that small business owners can do, based off of a few relatively simple steps that can insure long-term survival!

I like taking a more “common sense approach” to some of the things falling by the wayside within small businesses, unfortunately making them not all that “common” any more.  As an entrepreneur, I see a need in the market, and I’m seeking to fill it.

Those 4 Steps are a part of the “Common Sense Branding Strategy” I came up with, and while the concepts are “new”, how they’re applied and when is key.  I think these are 4 Steps that ANYONE could take to build their brand, and while it does involve a lot of work, it should be work that’s complimentary to what you’re trying to do within your business, so its hard work that’s well worth it.

Knowing the struggles and challenges that small business owners face, not just in being the experts that they are in their respective fields, but also having to be an “expert” in the administrative tasks in running a business, I created the EASY Brand Marketing Program to help small business owners address some of those “Common Sense Branding Steps”.  I believe in the EASY Brand Marketing Program, not just because I created, but because I know that it fills a need within the market of small businesses, and I feel that I’m the one with the brand that can help fill that need! 

Just about everyone has something of value that they can share with you, if you’re willing to listen.  So, I thank you for listening to me, and I hope you’re finding some value in my words. 

I invite you to leave comments below on this blog, visit our website sss4success.com, reach out to us via email at “podcasts @ sss4success.com”, or finding us on Twitter (@sss4success).

And if, by chance, you would like to learn more about how EASY Sales can help your bottom line, then give us a call at 615-336-4325. 

Thanks again for listening and have a great day!

Kindra Cotton


Click the player below to hear this week's podcast:

The Trend Towards Trust

Even if you don't do business on the Internet, I'm sure you've observed the trend of ignoring advertising.  I know personally, I consider myself impervious to ads on the web, as well as on radio and TV, unless I'm specifically looking to buy AND I am in search of a great deal like the ones offered at MaximizingTheNet.com.

Over the MANY years that I've been on the Internet, I can honestly say I've never earnestly clicked those ubiquitous ads that appear all along the top and sides of the organic search results (like the ones pictured below):

In fact, research shows that an estimated 70% of all traffic received from search engines occurs from the non-paid results, and I can personally attest to this as a Google Adwords account holder and Ethical Search Engine Marketer, where I found that paying for traffic only resulted in me giving Google money.

Of course, all paid online advertising isn't bad, but my point is this:  In a time where cynicism and "advertising apathy" exists, "trust" becomes the currency of the champions who will survive and live to fight another day!

I wish I could take credit for the aforementioned concept (though I am staking claim to the "advertising apathy" part, just in case someone hasn't snapped that up yet), but the idea was something that was made crystal clear to me while reading Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.  In it, the authors talk about the importance of building trust and promoting transparency and integrity in dealing with people online.

Of course this has implications in the offline world too, and that's why I've titled this post "The Trend Towards Trust".  This kind of seems like one of those "a-ha moments" that you have when you realize something for the first time, then quickly realize you already knew it, but had forgotten!

We buy things from people we trust; We listen to people we trust; We trust that when people are genuine and sincere in interacting with us, that we can believe what they say, and trust that they're recommendations are actually going to help us.  After having my "trust trends epiphany", I decided to "walk the walk and talk the talk" by building trust among my audience and potential clients.  I recently started blogging and podcasting, and I'm exploring a the possibility of producing a regular SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing) Newsletter.

I'm also opening the door to two-way communication by inviting anyone reading this to leave their comments and reach out to me via any of the methods listed below:

For more information, please visit our website sss4success.com, Contact Us through our Contact page on the website, or finding us on Twitter (@sss4success). 

Finally, if you would like to learn more about how EASY Sales can help your bottom line, then give us a call at 615-336-4325. 

Kindra

The Small Business Branding Tips Podcast Series

Hello and Welcome to the blog post introducing our first podcast for Small Business EASY Branding Tips, brought to you by SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists).

At SSS for Success, we are working to help Small Businesses Survive through EASY Sales, where the acronym EASY represents our company’s ability to help small businesses: Establish the profile of their "ideal customer"; Analyze products & services to tailor them for the "ideal customer"; Secure the most effective ways to build and maintain customer relationships; and finally Yield an enhanced brand that increases sales by attracting more customers and repeat business.

As the creator of the EASY Brand Marketing Program, I thank you for interest in this blog and hope you'll enjoy listening to the very first podcast of the series.

I started SSS for Success (EASY Brand Marketing Specialists) because I saw a true need for the varied services that became part of the EASY Brand Marketing Program.  As I got out and talked to people about what I do, I found that people who worked in places that sought to help small business owners, like Small Business Development Centers and Business Incubation Centers got what I was doing, but when I talked to small business owners themselves, I would often receive the “deer in headlights” look or a blank stare that told me that I needed to spend more time actually educating small biz owners on the need for branding (especially in the early stages) and how each of the steps of the EASY Brand Marketing Program are actually cost effective in the long- and short-term.  I also wanted to show how the results of incorporating the program early on actually improves your business because it brings you the increased sales that you need to help you stay in business for a long time to come. 

I decided to create this blog and podcast series, because I wanted a platform to share weekly EASY Brand Marketing Tips, and hopefully help small business owners in the process. 

Feel free to listen to the remainder of the podcast (there's a podcast player about the bottom of this post), where I talk about the specifics of what the EASY Brand Marketing Program is, and how it is used to help bring about EASY Sales.  I’m hoping you'll hear the passion in my voice and can see what drives me to want to help small businesses.  

I’m also hoping you’ll tune in for future weekly podcasts that I promise will have more Small Business Branding Tips.  In fact, next week’s topic is actually about “The Basics of Branding and why anyone can do it well” (regardless of their marketing budget), so you’ll definitely want to check out next week’s podcast episode, as well as visit this blog for useful tips.

I invite you to visit our website sss4success.com or send us an email at “blog comments @ sss4success.com” (there are spaces in the address so we can try to avoid receiving web spam), or Contact Us through our Contact page on the website, or finding us on Twitter (@sss4success). 

If you would like to learn more about how EASY Sales can help your bottom line, then give us a call at 615-336-4325.

Click here to listen to the podcast:



Click here to find the Transcript of this podcast.

Thanks again for visiting our blog and listening to the podcast series!

Have a great day!

Kindra Cotton