for small business owners in 2010
"...You don't need to know how to take a car apart and put it together, but you do need to know how to drive it. The same is true for your Web presence..."
"... What make a content management system so great is the Application Plug-in. Most of the television shows on the Food Network are hosted by formally trained Chefs who make everything from scratch. Sandra Lee is the host of a Food Network show called "Semi-Homemade." She has formal training too, but she understands that time in the kitchen is a scarce resource. She takes items from the grocery store that have been pre-made and shows you how to use them in creative ways that don't require much time and effort. That's how the most cost-effective Websites are made these days - with pre-made applications you just plug in and use...."
"...The software doesn't get improved because a company invests in R&D. It gets improved because sofware developers treat it as a piece of common knowledge. They gain status among their peers when they improve it and share it..."
"...Google knows the searcher's physical location. Therefore, you can place an ad for your business that will only show above or to the right of Google search results for key words and phrases you choose, and it will only show up in cities, counties, states, or countries that you specify..."
"...Is the potential gain you might enjoy by tricking Google worth the potential disaster you may incur when they ban your site? It's much easier, safer, and better for your visitors if you just give search engines what they want. What do they want? They want fresh, high-quality content. They want a site that other sites naturally link to. That's why it's called Organic SEO. There are no tricks. There are just ways of doing things that allow your good content to naturally rise to prominence..."
"...Please understand that recent developments in mobile phone devices have completely changed the game with regard to Internet marketing. Many phones now come equipped with 4 features that can work together to create truly mind-blowing opportunities..."
"...I started an email newsletter in 1997. That was the formula for growing traffic on your site back then. Get visitors to subscribe, and send them emails to keep them coming back. It used to work like a charm. I grew my mailing list to 15,000 subscribers from 0 in 4 years, but the growth didn't last. Here's why..."
"...RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication." It's a solution to the problems you get with email newsletter distribution. Instead of your message going out to your subscribers each time you have something to say, your subscribers have a system that automatically goes out to you several times a day and checks to see if you said anything. There are no spam filters to get in the way, and your subscribers get all of their news in one place they can check when they want to. Your message won't get buried if they don't check it right away. RSS can be used for lots of things other than news postings, but I don't want to complicate the subject here. Blogs are a very user-friendly way to create, edit, and update RSS news feeds..."
"...Now the big deal in online communication may be less about what you have to say than what your market has to say. It's never been easier to listen....."
"...If your sales are less than $50,000 per month then you will save money with a 3rd party processor like PayPal or Amazon Payments. If your sales are above $50,000 per month then you're money ahead with a merchant account. Cost is not the only factor to consider when looking at payment processors, however..."