Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
Ranking for area specific terms can be a big boost to your business. Many people don’t think local SEO makes a big difference, but this isn’t the case.
The good thing about it is that it’s usually quicker to rank for local terms. This is because you have so little competition. While there might be tons of sites going for the keyword “weight loss,” there are significantly less going for the term “Orlando weight loss.”
So how do you get ranked for local terms? Here are four tips to make it happen:
#1) Use the keyword in your title and content
This is the most important factor in getting ranked. You should put the keyword at the beginning of your title, as well as in the content a few times. This lets Google know what the page is about. Therefore, it will make it more likely you will get ranked.
#2) Use anchor text to your advantage
When you do get links to your site, make sure the anchor text (the actual link text) includes your main keyword phrase. Google looks closely at the anchor text to let them know what the site being linked to is about.
So if you have one hundred links pointing to your site, and seventy of them say “Houston condos”, they will be able to surmise what your page is about.
However, you don’t want to have every single link to say the same thing. Google likes natural link building. So if 100% of the links say “Houston condos, they will view this as unnatural, and this may affect you in a negative way.
#3) Get links from quality sites
Every link is not created equal. Google puts more weight on the links from quality sites a lot more. Therefore, be sure to target legitimate sites for your link building efforts.
#4) Geo-tags
This is not a new strategy, and it’s been around for a long time. However, many internet marketers aren’t familiar with it.
Basically, geo-tagging is where you put metadata in your HTML code. This lets the search engine spiders know where your site is located. You can do the same for pictures you put on your site. This will help you rank for localized searches.
The metadata includes your latitude and longitude coordinates, and sometimes other variables like altitude. If somebody is doing a search with geotagging enabled, your site might show up.
While geo-tagging does work, you can definitely rank without doing it. However, there’s no reason not to use it, as it definitely couldn’t hurt.
The bottom line is, getting ranked for local SEO terms is a great way to get more business. Implement these four tips and you should see results from your SEO efforts shortly.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
What is local marketing, and why do smaller businesses need to engage in it? This means targeting people in your area.
Obviously many businesses can go after people around the country. However, others can only do business with local customers.
Restaurants and financial planners are prime examples of smaller companies that do business with only local people. There’s only so far people are going to drive to do business with you if you have a physical location.
However, if you have a business that lends itself to national customers, you can also target local customers separately. There are some people that would simply rather do business with local companies. Therefore, you might want to do some local advertising apart from your national efforts.
So how do you get more local customers? There are a number of ways that work. Here are four you can start with:
#1) Newspaper advertising
This is one of the cheapest ways to target people in your area. When done right, it can be effective.
The problem with it is that it’s very untargeted. The majority of people reading the paper will not be interested in your product. However, if even a small percentage respond, it can be effective.
#2) Yellow pages
This is another one of the “traditional methods” of local advertising. It’s been around a long time, and when done right it can again be effective.
#3) Direct mail
This is hands down one of the top local advertising methods. This is where you buy a list of people in your area based on certain characteristics. You can choose based on age, gender, income level, etc. then you would send out an advertising campaign to them.
This way, you can choose exactly who you want to focus on. Therefore, it’s more targeted than the previous two.
#4) Internet
Online advertising is another effective strategy to get local customers.
So how do you convert traffic into sales? Now that you know how to drive traffic to your offer, you have to focus on making sales.
Get their contact information.
This should be your main goal, so you can keep marketing to them. The average customer requires at least four to seven touches before they do business with you. Therefore, if you give up after the first contact you are probably missing out on the majority of your sales.
Track each advertising source separately.
You might want to track each advertising method, so you can tell what’s working and what isn’t. For this reason, you might want to send the traffic from each source to a different place so you can tell what’s working and what isn’t.
The bottom line is, local advertising can be effective when done right. Implement these tips, and you will get your marketing efforts on track.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
It is that time of year gain. We just had Halloween. Now, the holiday season is in full swing!
In these challenging times, we want to offer you a place to advertise your holiday products and services where you can get an inexpensive yet high visibility ad. That place is the Our Milk Money Holiday E-Gift Catalog.
Please note that although we have had a substantial increase in our subscriber base this year, we have decided not to increase the ad prices. As always, we are committed to offering you affordable promotion at the best possible value.
The Our Milk Money Holiday E-Gift Catalog will be advertised heavily online and via our weekly radio show: This Little Parent Stayed Home. It will also go out to all of our Facebook and Twitter followers.
The Our Milk Money Holiday E-Gift Catalog will be emailed out three times! Once on November 21st, once on November 28th and again on December 5th. In addition to that, the ads will also be posted on the Our Milk Money site for 1 1/2 months for all to see!
The staff of Our Milk Money has been challenged to do their holiday shopping with the Parents of Our Milk Money. We are extending the same challenge to you…let us all support each other this year by doing our holiday shopping with each other.
If our staff needs ideas on what to purchase for the holidays. we bet our subscribers do too! This is where we need YOUR help! Be the expert on your products and tell us what we should be purchasing from you. When you send us information for your ad, be product specific.
The ad opportunities:
- Top Banner Ad: Only 1 available! This spot will consist of a 468 x 60 banner along with up to 300 characters of text.
- Bottom Banner Ad: Only 1 available! This spot will consist of a 468 x 60 banner along with up to 300 characters of text.
- Middle Button Ads: Unlimited spots available! These spots will consist of 125 x 125 buttons with up to 100 characters of text.
What we need from you:
In years past, the most successful ads have been those that included a call to action so we recommend your ad promote a specific product or service or offer a significant discount to Our Milk Money supporters.
- Email address where we can send you a paypal invoice
- Best: URL to a button or banner; if you don’t have one we will need a jpeg button or banner
- A product title and description
- Include price and any discount you may be offering
- Link to purchasing information for your product(s)
- Name of your business and link to your homepage
- Your Facebook fan page link
- Your Twitter name
RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW!
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions, Member Spotlights
Shannon Wilburn is the President and Co-Founder of Just Between Friends Franchise System, Inc.
Just Between Friends, the Nation’s Leading children’s and Maternity Consignment event was founded in 1997 by two moms, Shannon Wilburn and Daven Tackett in a living room in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 2003, they formed Just Between Friends Franchise Systems, Inc. and began selling franchises. There are 109 franchises in 21 states. They have received national attention on CNN, Headline News, ABC News, Good Morning America, Inside Edition and CNBC’s The Big Idea. They have also been featured in The Wall Street Journal Online, Inc. Magazine, The Seattle Times, Sacramento Bee, LA Times, Daily Oklahoman and broadcast outlets in dozens of cities across the country including Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Denver and Seattle.
Please tell us about your business and the service that you provide:
JBF serves families in local communities by helping them save 50-90% off of retail on children’s and maternity items. Families can also sell their items and make 65-70%. Each franchise benefits, in part a local non-profit.
What motivated you to start your business?
We both had young children and were on a budget. There was a need and we found a way to fill it. We did not know that it would become a national company. We literally just wanted to save money on our children’s items. Tulsa really embraced the concept. When it was succeeding in Tulsa, others wanted to start it in their communities…and that is how the franchise system was born.
What kind of background or expertise do you have in your field?
I had sales experience, and had grown up on a budget. However, I did not have an ounce of business experience. In fact, my degree is Elementary Education.
What trends do you see in your current industry?
With the current economy, families are having to be creative in trying to find ways to save money. This is just a smart way for them to do just that.
What are the most demanding aspects about your business?
Time commitment.
What are the most rewarding aspects about your business?
We love helping families. I tell people all the time that this is a “feel good business”. You don’t have to “sell” JBF because it sells itself. Everyone understands saving money and making money. It’s a win win win.
What advice would you give to someone interested in starting a business like yours?
Probably that it takes a lot of work. We tell applicants looking to purchase a franchise that we make it look easy, but that it takes time, effort and commitment to be in it for a while before you see some great ROI.
What are you most proud of as a parent-preneur?
The example that I am setting for my kids.
How have you been able to balance your time between work and your family?
Is there such a thing? I don’t understand balance very well. My hubby has to help me see that sometimes. My kids are in high school and are very patient with my time in front of the computer. They also get to help me when I need help with business stuff. We like to vacation as a family so I count that as quality time…
What has been the most effective way for you to promote and market yourself?
I use social media quite a bit. I also do a tiny bit of blogging. I wish that I had the talent to just sit down and write something out quickly, but it takes me forever to put my thoughts together. It is not a talent that I possess.
Finally: What does your “Milk Money” provide for you and your family?
The opportunity to bless others.
From OMM: Find Shannon on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
Large, global brands seem to be the most noticeable businesses on Facebook, but that is changing. In fact, it has already changed somewhat. There was a time when you could forget about trying to find your local business’s Facebook page, but more and more small businesses are turning to Facebook to market their products. Maybe you would like to promote your small business via Facebook. Here are some tips that may help.
1. Separate professional from personal
Your clients don’t need to see the latest pictures of your pets, or hear about your latest haircut. Keep your personal information on your personal profile, and establish a separate page for your business. If you like, you can hire someone else to be a sort of proxy for you who can represent your brand. This might be helpful if you already have a significant personal presence on Facebook.
However, you might also use your personal networking to your advantage. When you set up your business page, you can incorporate those friends who share your interests into your target market. Still, your personal profile and business pages should be separate.
2. Your page name
This is important, because you can’t change it later. You will have to shut down your page and build a new one, and that can mess with your client base. So consider key words when you develop your page name, and make it a good one. Put lots of thought into it.
3. Your landing page
This is like the “home page” of a website. It needs to have a compelling image and good information right off the bat so that visitors will be inspired to click the “Like” or “Become a Fan” buttons. You can use something called FBML, which stands for Facebook Markup Language, to create a unique and interesting landing page.
4. Tabs
You can also use FBML to create tabs, which are visible buttons on your page that represent applications, or apps. Twitter, Networked Blogs, Events, and Inbox are just some of the apps you can put on your business page. These really help promote your business as they give visitors and fans a chance to interact and connect with you and your business.
5. The value of personal communication
One of the appealing things about Facebook is the personal interaction it encourages. In a world of automation, customers appreciate a “live human” at the other end of the keyboard, mobile device, or computer screen! The telephone used to provide this, but with more and more businesses resorting to automated customer service, Facebook gives your business an edge. So try to communicate with your fans and followers regularly, and on an individual basis as often as possible. Happy fans then tell their friends.
If your business grows to the point that you can’t handle all the individual contact, consider outsourcing this to someone else who is closely associated with your business.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
When you begin your business ventures on Facebook, you might find some tips helpful. It may help relieve some of the anxiety new users and newcomers to social networking sometimes feel. Here are some suggestions for those who are beginners on Facebook.
1. Understand the medium
It’s important to understand what Facebook is all about. It works by connecting people, either one-on-one (friends) or through groups. So you can tap into this method of social networking for your business. Facebook actually has rules, too, so you’ll want to familiarize yourself with their terms and conditions. Most likely, you aren’t going to break any Facebook rules unless you’re being really offensive, but it’s a good idea to read the rules anyway.
2. Keep your focus
When you begin your business ventures on Facebook, it’s a good idea to keep your focus. Your business has a purpose, and you’ll need a good grasp of what that purpose is. This will help you connect with the right groups and prospective customers.
When you begin filling your page with content – the information that people read when they visit your page – keep it on topic. Prospects will lose interest if your content has no focused purpose.
To help keep your focus and avoid getting “sucked in” to the social aspects of Facebook, it may help to schedule certain times of the day when you do your social networking.
3. Keep it professional
When you set up a Facebook business page, you will need to fill out your personal information. When you fill it out, make sure the information is true and real, but also professional. Personal details are not the first thing that visitors should see when they come across your page. Think of your personal traits from a business standpoint, and describe yourself using professional criteria.
4. People want to see you
Having the neutral blue silhouette is considered a no-no from a business perspective. Your avatar – the little picture that everyone will see beside your comments, posts, and on your page – needs to show an image of your best professional you.
5. Things to avoid
When you first start up on Facebook, you will probably see a lot of frivolous games, gifts, and so forth that are not relevant to your business. It’s a good idea to block these things in your personal settings, and avoid participating in “chain mail” types of communication.
It’s also a good idea to avoid “spamming” others. This is when you send out all kinds of promotional material and information all at once to all sorts of Facebook users, and continue doing it daily. It can turn prospective clients off quickly. They may block you, or remove their status as your friend or fan.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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