Google Releases New Site Full of Resources for Entrepreneurs |  |
- Google Releases New Site Full of Resources for Entrepreneurs
- Women: An Interest, Important And Influencial Group
- Savvy Rest Reaches New Audiences at Scale Using Content Discovery (Case Study)
- How To Become An Expert Online
- StumbleUpon Introduces New Look For Site
| Google Releases New Site Full of Resources for Entrepreneurs Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:00 PM PDT Google released a new site recently aimed at helping entrepreneurs and small businesses. Google for Entrepreneurs is basically a site that brings together all of Google's programs and partnerships that could possibly benefit startups or entrepreneurs.
Under this umbrella are 50 different efforts in over 30 countries, including events in different cities around the world, local groups and programs, and online resources that can be used by small businesses anywhere. Some are products and services of Google itself and some are partnerships with other organizations and small businesses. One of those partnerships is called Startup Weekend, a group that puts on events where participants spend all weekend working and building a startup and then launch a new company on Sunday night. There's also Women Entrepreneurs on the Web, a group that teaches women how to build, market and network their businesses and ideas. Another program is Campus London, a facility that gives local young entrepreneurs access to workspace, special events, mentorship and partners. And aside from the many partner organizations Google has included in the site, there are also the more widely known Google products like AdWords, Google Docs and Google+ for Business. Google has set up a Google+ page so that entrepreneurs can share updates and keep up with the tools and events from the page. The company also announced the first annual Google for Entrepreneurs Week, which will consist of business events in 28 cities throughout 13 countries. The site is free to use, and so are many of the resources found there. But this move isn't without benefit for Google. Providing these resources to startups and entrepreneurs can help to ensure that those companies will continue to use Google's products and services as they grow. It can also help Google keep watch over up and coming small businesses that could become one of Google's many acquisitions or partners in the future. The post Google Releases New Site Full of Resources for Entrepreneurs appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Women: An Interest, Important And Influencial Group Posted: 02 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT President Obama talks about women not being relegated to a political interest group. The president said:
Special interest groups are organized for the sole purpose of exerting influence on the political and legal systems and play a central role in deciding who gets what, when, where and how in legislative and budget processes. They can also play a significant role in deciding which values will be promoted and enforced by the government. Some good examples are The NRA, AMA, AARP, ABA, AFL-CIO, you get the idea. Susan B Anthony is one of my favorite activists. She knew without getting the right to vote, women would never have a chance to advance, contribute and have a voice. Her efforts changed everything for women and women have steadily leveraged this.
Women may not be showing up on the Hill to lobby as much, but they are showing up enforce in the work place, on major lists and leading the way in business, creating jobs, adding significantly to the economy and changing attitudes about work, equality, family and working together as a community. Women are an interest, important and influencial group. They are “making the shift” into their place, space, skin and destiny. As 51% of the U.S. work force, women are growing into their shared stewardship and partnership with men, which can only benefit their family, our economy and our self-esteem. In Maddy’s Dychtwald and Christine Larson’s book “Influence” , she says:
The latest American Express Open report provides some interesting insights into current women business enterprise, WBEs:
Founded in 1962, Catalyst, the leading nonprofit membership organization expanding opportunities for women and business lists the current women CEO’s of Fortune 1000 companies. The Forbes Top 100 Most Powerful Women list for 2012 has several new faces, categories and demographics. This is the best snap shot of the impact of how women have and are emerging, blossoming and awakening. Perhaps the greatest example of how women are emerging and stole the show were at the 2012 London summer Olympics with Missy, Gabby, Serena, Misty and Kerri and so many other women athletes who shined in soccer, water polo, basketball, swimming, track. The medal count was amazing and impressive. There were more women than men competing in the 2012 summer Olympics. American women won 58 medals and 29 gold medals. More than China, Russia and Great Britain’s total medial count. Women may not be a “political special interest group,” but we are special and making the shift into realizing and using our female talents with more confidence and leadership in fulfilling our social and economic destiny. It can only accelerate our country’s recovery and make us all better, stronger and more successful. Women Rock Photo via Shutterstock The post Women: An Interest, Important And Influencial Group appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Savvy Rest Reaches New Audiences at Scale Using Content Discovery (Case Study) Posted: 02 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT As a small business, creating content and finding an audience for that content can be a challenge. As an organic mattress company with a niche audience, Savvy Rest wanted to use its blog to increase the exposure of its brand and increase traffic to its website. Prior to working with Outbrain, the leading content discovery and content recommendation platform, Savvy Rest used social media channels to distribute its content, which centered on sleep and lifestyle topics. However, it found that the size of its actual and potential social network was limited given the type of content it produced. Savvy Rest implemented Outbrain's Amplify Self-Serve platform to better distribute content at scale. Outbrain recommends interesting internal and third-party content to audiences on article and video pages. Content publishers can work with Outbrain to recommend links to additional internal content at the end of articles in order to keep traffic recirculating within their network. They can also work with Outbrain to have their content recommended as links on third-party sites on a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) basis. Savvy Rest leveraged Outbrain's services to accomplish both of these goals. By having links to their content recommended on publisher sites like CNN, MSNBC and Slate.com, among many others, Savvy Rest was able to reach new and larger audiences. By furthering the reach of its content, the company was able to drive traffic back to its site and generate more consumer and prospect engagement. "Outbrain has driven significantly more traffic to our website than our social media channels," said John McMullen, Online Marketing Manager of Savvy Rest. As a result of working with Outbrain, Savvy Rest:
In addition to amplifying content, Outbrain is able to help content publishers generate PPC revenue by recommending third-party content alongside internal content on each article page. Content publishers with a large volume of traffic can recommend links at the bottom of their content that drive traffic to third-party sites like Savvy Rest's blog. These recommendations generate revenue but also, more importantly, provide an enhanced experience for users who wish to consume additional content off-site. Try it for yourself! for as little as $10 a day with a flexible cost-per-click (CPC) that you decide. Unlike other CPC platforms, the more traffic you get, the more you will be recommended across our network leading to lower CPCs over time. Once you sign up, email us at selfserve@outbrain.com to claim a $50 credit! The post Savvy Rest Reaches New Audiences at Scale Using Content Discovery (Case Study) appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| How To Become An Expert Online Posted: 02 Oct 2012 05:00 AM PDT Let's face it – this is what we're all striving for, right? We want to be acknowledged as an expert in our field. We want customers to recognize our expertise so they'll trust us with their dollars. We want bloggers and reporters to see us as an expert so they'll use as a source and send traffic our way. And, of course, we want Google to think we're an expert so it'll deliver new eyes and more conversions. We're all fighting the expert game. But how do we really become one?
I'm often asked how small business owners should go about building their expertise online. Below is an expanded version of the answer I often give. 1. Be different The first step of being known as an expert is being known at all. And to do that, you need to stand out. Identify what is different or a little bit kooky about your business, and then bleed it from everything pore available. Now, before you go crazy, simply being weird isn't enough. You have to be weird in a way that serves your audience. What is weird about you that helps them achieve their goals? How does your uniqueness make you better suited to serve their needs? That's your point of difference. If you don't know what your POD is, ask your audience. Why do they do business with you? What keeps them coming back? You may be surprised at what they tell you. 2. Tell stories Consistently tell stories about your brand and your industry. This is how people will connect with you and how you'll become memorable. Share yourself, get personal, and tie it back to your customers' goals. From a brand perspective – create content that shows your POD in action. Tell stories that demonstrate how you do business, post photos of your consumers interacting with your products. Make sure these items are easy to find and to share. Craft stories about your industry by creating characters out of the biggest players, highlighting issues, and setting your brand up as the solution. If you're not looking at how to incorporate storytelling into your marketing, you're making it harder for people to remember your name and what you're about. 3. Build relationships Become an expert networker. If you know someone who should know someone else, connect them. If there’s a blogger whose radar you want to get on, connect with them. Comment on their blog and offer a helpful tip, help them solve a problem they’re dealing with, connect them to a person in your network you think they should know. Little by little these “acts of goodwill” will help you to create powerful relationships that you’ll be able to leverage in the future. Be nice and helpful to everyone you meet. Partly because there will comes a time when your generosity will pay off and, also, because it’s just a good way to be. 4. Talk about your industry, not yourself Write more about your industry and the world around you than you do about your own products or services. If someone is interested in learning about your product offerings, they can find that information on their own. Instead, pique their interest by talking smartly about the things they're concerned about. If you sell green-related technology, focus on the issues your audience is passionate about and share your stance. Set yourself up as a thought leader and become part of the conversations that are happening around. The more you're seen talking about the key issues related to your industry, the more you'll be perceived as an expert by those around you. 5. Be seen Once you identify what it is you want to be known for, be seen talking about it. Don't be a wallflower. Guest blog on other sites, participate in online conversations, attend conferences, and get your voice and your opinion out wherever you can. You'd be surprise how much of "becoming an expert" is really about "being seen talking about stuff". It's somewhat sad to point out but the more you're seen, the more apt people will be to put you on the pedestal. 6. Show results Of course, you'll have to be able to do more than just talk. You'll also need to prove your salt by showing your results. Post case studies showing how you helped Client X increase their revenue by 200 percent in the year they worked with you. Post client testimonials that explain how your product made their life easier. Document your success and share it in the form of helpful tips and tactics that others can learn from. Collect information and share it with your entire industry so everyone can benefit from it. 7. Keep learning Once you achieve a certain level of success it becomes pretty easy to keep talking about what you've done instead of doing new stuff. The trouble with that is eventually you'll run out of things to talk about or the topics you want to talk (ie the same old things) about won't be as valuable anymore. In your efforts to be seen as expert, don't forget to keep learning what you're trying to become an expert in. That's how you'll expand upon your thought leadership, it's how you'll keep getting invited back to the table, and it's how you'll, ultimately, be able to better serve your customers. You can be seen as an expert all you want – if you can't back it up, eventually you'll customers will realize and leave you. 8. Be humble Resist the urge to drink your own Kool-aid by focusing on giving back to others. Instead of patting yourself on the back, lift others up instead. Not only will it make you a more attractive person to be around, you'll also be building valuable connections that you'll be able to use in the future. Because no one becomes an expert on their own. They do it with the help of everyone around them. Above are tips I would give to anyone trying to increase their expertise online. What'd I miss? Businessman Photo via Shutterstock The post How To Become An Expert Online appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| StumbleUpon Introduces New Look For Site Posted: 02 Oct 2012 02:30 AM PDT There are times when any business must change its approach, and for an online business like StumbleUpon, a plunge in traffic, the departure of a CEO, and the introduction of a new mobile app for iPhones might certainly indicate that the moment is right. This big name in social bookmarking recently announced a redesign, too. Now may be a good opportunity for all online entrepreneurs to reflect on the need to move forward, innovate, and keep up with the times. Stumbling AroundQuick change artists. StumbleUpon was once the marvel of the social bookmarking world, known as a huge traffic driver for Websites and touted by many an online marketer for its ability to help connect with niche audiences. But a traffic decrease since December proves the site is far from infallible. Perhaps wisely, the people behind this social media powerhouse have decided it’s time to rebuild from the ground up. There are times when you need to do the same. The Next Web I’m in a Pinterest state of mind. Many observers have noted the similarities between StumbleUpon and another bright, new star in the social media firmament: Pinterest. But rest assured, writes Greg Finn, a social media and search marketing expert, StumbleUpon’s DNA is still at the heart of the site’s reinvention. Don’t be afraid to borrow a good idea with a redesign, but stay true to your roots and users. Marketing Land Site SpecificThe ugliest site in the world. Is your business Website still plagued by bad color schemes, poor grammar, even worse navigation, obtrusive ads, and (yikes!) even that old-school approach of playing music to harsh your visitors’ mellows while they’re trying to surf on through (probably listening to their own music at the time?) If any of these descriptions sound familiar, it’s time to make changes immediately. Small Biz Diamonds Framing your fears about online video. Marketing coach Stephanie Ward gets that many small business owners may be apprehensive about creating online video. Maybe you’re not comfortable with the idea of creating video or being on camera, or perhaps you fear the technical challenges video presents. But the fact is, video can be an important addition to your business Website and a great way to grow your business. If you haven’t added video to your Website yet, check out Stephanie’s challenge. Firefly Coaching Caught in the WebWhat your Website says about you. Famous Canadian entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson may be the star of Dragon’s Den, a Canadian version of Shark Tank, where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to big time investors, but that doesn’t mean her company’s Web presence is keeping up with the latest trends. One blogger complains the company still doesn’t have a mobile-friendly Website and that Dickinson’s blog hasn’t been updated in months. The Your Web Department Blog Beating a path to your door. You may believe that just having a super cool Website will attract all the visitors and customers your business could ever need. Not so, says blogger Joel Mayer. You’ll have to do some of the work yourself in the form of keywords, page titles, link building, and Meta tags, if you want visitors to even find you online. It’s called Search Engine Optimization and must be an important part of all your online marketing plans. The Savvy Copywriter Share and share alike. To attract traffic to your Website, you will also need to convince others to share your content via social media. If this isn’t happening, the problem may stem from the material your Website offers. If you’d like to make your content more appealing to social media users, check out marketer Brad Smith’s post about how to make others want to share your stuff and promote you to the world. Social Media Today The post StumbleUpon Introduces New Look For Site appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
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