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Small Business SEO Tips – Claim your business on local Yelp results

March 18, 2012 By Amanda 7 Comments

Are you after free, quick and easy small business SEO tips for your business website?

small bsiness seo tips - use yelp small business help.ifo

using Yelp can help your small business seo

Here is a great tip to Search Engine Optimize your website using Yelp.com that I read from an article on Noobprenrur.com. So don’t put this off, use yelp and claim your business so that your website will rank higher in local search engine rankings. Noobprenrur states:

Small Business SEO Tips

It doesn’t cost anything to list your business on Yelp, but you want to make sure you fill out your entire profile. Besides listing your business hours and location make sure you put a lot of photographs on there as well. Pictures don’t just help visitors on the website to see more about your business but it also helps your search engine rankings as [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business General Help, Small Business Websites Tagged With: small business help, small business SEO tips, small business websites

Do customer loyalty programs really work?

March 15, 2012 By Amanda 3 Comments

My small store does not have a customer loyalty program. Why? A couple of

Dogs are said to be loyal, are people? Do customer loyalty programs work

reasons. Firstly I’m not sure that customer loyalty programs really work, and secondly I haven’t found a program that suits my needs. It seems now though, that because other stores have them, potential/new customers are expecting me to follow suit. My opinion, which has been formed over the last 3-4 years is that if the goods/ services I supply don’t satisfy the needs or wants of the customer they will not purchase my product, no matter what. So will having customer loyalty program change that? and what is the point of discounting ( as this is what is the usual loyalty reward) if my goods are the best fit, for the customer? And what is customer loyalty anyway, here I turn, once again to wikipedia for the following definition:

The loyalty business model is a business model used in strategic management in which company resources are employed so as to increase the loyalty of customers and other stakeholders in the expectation that corporate [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business General Help, Small Business Marketing Ideas and Tips

Small Business Tools at a discount

March 13, 2012 By Amanda 2 Comments

Do you want small business tools at a discount. There are so many great tools on the web that internet marketers use, and the good news is that those in small business can also use them. Be wary, there are many not so good ones as well. Here’s a daily deal site that specialises in internet tools, videos, courses. So check it out and get small business tools at a discount. There are many facets to this site including free stuff so do check out all the tabs, it’s huge!

Check out the Daily Gangster here I’ve purchased a few myself and downloaded some free of the ones as well, so give it a try.

note: I am an affiliate of Daily Gangster

Filed Under: Small Business Marketing Ideas and Tips Tagged With: small business help, small business marketing tools

Small Business Advice – try not to compete on price

March 13, 2012 By Amanda 10 Comments

This small business advice, try not to compete on price should be changed to DO

Watch the competition but do not compete on price

NOT compete on price, but that may be a bit hard to take. Watching what the competition is doing is important, but following blindly when many are discounting madly could lead to disaster. Here is what Michael Hess has to say in his article on ‘Why you shouldn’t stress about the competition‘. I especially like how Micheal offers an alternative to competing on price.

Small Business Advice – try not to compete on price

Pricing: This is probably where competitor-obsessed decision-making is most dangerous, especially for small businesses. Author Mark Stiving said it best: “Pricing is not a sustainable competitive advantage.” You may be desperate for sales, but it does you no good to get sucked [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business General Help, Small Business Marketing Ideas and Tips Tagged With: do not compete on price, small business advice, small business general help, small business help, small business marketing

Small Business Independent Retailers – find new products from small business manufacturers for a competitive advantage

March 11, 2012 By Amanda 5 Comments

Are you one of many small business independent retailers looking for new products for your store that are not stocked by the big box stores? I am so pleased to be able to share a great new website I have found, based in the US called Retail Pitch. It strives to showcase new products from American small business manufacturers to Independent retailers and will give your small business a competitive advantage.

This video explains more

So all you small business independent retailers check out the website click here

Of course, if you are a small manufacturer, get your products listed!

Filed Under: Small Business General Help, Small Business Marketing Ideas and Tips Tagged With: independent retailers, small business help, small business independent reatilers, small business manufacturers

Small Business – Trust gives a competitive advantage

March 10, 2012 By Amanda 8 Comments

Building up business trust in my small business is something I have never thought

Trust gives a competitive advantage in small businesses

about in any depth. Building a relationship with my customers has been a priority, but I have never narrowed the focus down to building business trust. That is until now. In a press release ( yes there is valuable content in some PR) for Valens Point LLC Debra Mendes has this to say:

Small Business trust gives a competitive advantage

“Business owners are better equipped to build trust once they see tangible steps that can be taken to do so” says David C. Smith, Managing Partner at Valens Point. “Establishing trust objectives as part of your business strategy can have a profound affect on all aspects of your business and accelerate growth. Trust is paramount in getting and keeping customers, and recruiting and retaining staff, for example. Developing trust impacts the growth, sustainability and profitability of your business – all important factors in creating a sellable business.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business General Help, Small Business Marketing Ideas and Tips Tagged With: small business, small business help, small business marketing tips, small business trust, trust in business gives a competitive advantage

Small Business Marketing Idea – politically incorrect ways work

March 8, 2012 By Amanda 9 Comments

Need a small business marketing idea? Think outside the square, be funny,

Politically incorrect marketing works

create a buzz. With social media so accessible if your idea strikes an accord, for the right or wrong reasons then your audience could be bigger than you could possibly dream. The following small business marketing idea shows a touch of genius.

Small Business Marketing Idea – Politically incorrect ways work

On March 6, 2012, social and online media created a frenzy over Madhouse’s controversial washing label that outlines how you should wash the trousers following with: “Or GIVE IT TO YOUR WOMAN. It’s her job.” Marketing expert, Charles Gaudet, said that while many people were [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business Marketing Ideas and Tips Tagged With: small business help, small business marketing ideas, small business marketing tips

Small Business Help

March 7, 2012 By Amanda Leave a Comment

Small Business help is here to provide you with no nonsense musings, helpful advice, videos, information and tools on the following and more. We search the internet to find the very best of what’s on offer to save you time, effort and money.

small business issues in retail
small business issues in service industries
small business marketing tips
small business help
small business customer service skills
small business management
small business news
small business in social media

Whatever our businesses are, we all go though the same issues, fears and problems. It is my vision that together, as small business owners, we can provide encouragement and ideas for each other.

So welcome, and if you would like to receive our weekly newsletter sign up 🙂

Filed Under: Small Business General Help

Small Business Help – how to calculate charge out rates, don’t undersell your time

March 7, 2012 By Amanda 6 Comments

How to calculate charge out rates is one of the most important things to get correct for any small business owner in service industries. That is plumbers, electricians, computer servicing and consulting, even dentists, accountants

Charge out rates - do not undersell your time

and lawyers. Charge too much and you may lose sales, too little and you will not make a living. So it can be a balancing act but when it boils down to it, is there any point of being in business if you are not making enough. It’s quite easy to undervalue yourself and/or your employees and it can require courage to stand up and say ‘no I am worth more’.

Here is a very simplistic guide for working out a minimum rate it ignores profit from any goods you might sell, so has limited usefulness but then aim here is to get you thinking! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business General Help Tagged With: how to calculate charge out rates for small business, small business, small business help

Small Business SEO Tips

Small Business Marketing – Does facebook advertising work?

Small Business Advice – try not to compete on price

Small Business trust gives a competitive advantage