Small Business Commando News

Andrew Shotland (no, that’s not it) wrote a beautiful piece of link bait in his blog on Local SEO.

http://www.localseoguide.com/naming-your-business-with-seolinkbait-in-mind/

He highlights a photo of a business that has a sophomorically funny name.

I would be remiss in my responsibilities if I did not share with you the actual best name ever.

This is a real man who lived in Odon, Indiana, just up highway 231 from my birthplace of Loogootee.  There is a man currently living in Odon with the same name.  As they say, birds of a feather don’t fall far from the tree.
Here it is.

Warning . . .

Parents, chase your children from the room.

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Small Companies Are Finding a Home on the Web - New York Times

An article in today’s New York Times Small Business Section discusses how small businesses are embracing the Internet as an important source of customer acquisition.

They mentioned my company, Weblistic  as a company designed to help small businesses solve these issues.

Although we’re normally very quiet about the secret sauce that helps Weblistic customers achieve superior returns, it is very flattering to be recognized. 

It’s important to view online marketing as a series of blocks that build a solid foundation.  Google PPC advertising, Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask, AOL, Superpages, Video, Mobile, Pay-Per-Call and lead generation sites are all important components and vary in their effectiveness.

The one thing that I see is that the business evolves quickly, and what was effective last month might not have the same power this month. 

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Shares in most Yellow Pages publishers are taking a beating amid a panicked sell off.

See story here about RH Donnelley shares plunge.

Advertisers should not be so quick to abandon the print product.  While usage is declining, it is akin to a melting iceberg.  There is still a lot of value, and the best way to track is to use call tracking numbers and measure the ROI.

Note to investors:  Yellow Pages companies throw off loads of cash.  Most could seriously reduce their overhead and increase cashflow without increasing revenues.

Note to advertisers:  No single vehicle will solve all of your marketing needs.  The money you make from your yellow pages ads is just as green as the money you make from your local online advertising (gratuitous link).

I just finished presenting a breakout session at the International Franchise Association convention in Orlando. I shared the stage with the amazing Gregg Stewart of TMP Directional Media and highly creative, Mark Ludwig of Hot Dish Advertising.

We each covered our areas of specialties, and I did a segment on using video and video sharing to market your business.

It really struck a nerve, and the questions would still be coming if we hadn’t run out of time.

One of the simple tips is to break videos down into easily digestible segments.

You’re far better off producing 15 videos that are each 1 minute in length than using one video that is 15 minutes in length.

When you submit the videos to the video sharing network sites (such as YouTube, Veoh, and AOL Videos), use a very simple phrase to title and tag each video so that Google will know how to categorize it.

A few notes on franchising. . .
Franchising is hot.  There were over 3,000 total attendees at the show representing over $16 trillion of economic impact in the US.  This is an industry that thrives when the economy slows because talented employees lose their jobs and purchase franchises.  These are some very sophisticated and dynamic companies that attract entrepreneurial managers.

I read an interesting article about an Arbitron survey of a rural county in Southern Indiana residents.

It’s interesting to me because I grew up in the adjacent county (Martin).

The telephone survey of 151 households found that 52% had high-speed Internet access at home.

52% ! ! !

The town where I grew up (Loogootee, Indiana) has about 2,400 residents and is the largest “city” in the county.  Then entire county has only 10,000 residents.

A large percentage of the young people move away to find gainful employment.  So, this is beyond an age-driven cultural shift.  When you consider that the public internet emerged in 1995 (13 years ago), this is even more amazing.

Imagine what changes will take place in the next 13 years.

29 percent of Daviess residents shop in Evansville monthly: Marketing director shares results of survey at Rooster Booster Breakfast

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