To build a well-running, attractive website you need a content management system (CMS) that allows you to develop an “all-in-one” online presence. You need a place to host your blog, your articles, and other information about your products and/or services. The very best CMS that is available today is simple to use, easy to update, and used widely by small and large businesses alike. That platform is self-hosted WordPress. First, let’s differentiate between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. WordPress.com runs on the WordPress software but is not what we are discussing. To build a great website, the platform you need is from WordPress.org which is installed on your own server space, and…

Defining your ideal client can happen in a variety of ways. The best way is to decide who they are prior to inventing a product or developing your services. But, many people do it the other way successfully; it’s just a little more difficult. As you are working toward defining your ideal client, ask and answer the following questions. Who do you really want to work with? It’s important to know the type of people you want work with. Write down your ideal candidate and leave nothing out. You want this to be your perfect, ideal customer that would exist in a perfect world. Do you want to work with…

Some people say video marketing is the “new” marketing of the future but if you think about it, we’ve really come full circle. First marketing started out as print material, then we started adding images, and then we used sound on the radio. When television came about, we started putting our pictures and text via the sound of voiceovers on the television in the form of advertisements. The internet started out largely text based. Then we started experiencing audio through audio files like .wav files, and finally the technology allowed for images. And now due to fast internet speeds and upgraded technology like tablets and smartphones, we can watch streaming…

As a small business owner it is imperative that you study the supply and demand of any particular niche for which you feel you want to be involved. In addition, choosing a smaller niche market can allow your business to avoid competing with huge businesses that can afford to put out less expensive items. As a smaller business owner you can charge higher prices for specialized and differentiated products or services that you promote to smaller audiences, giving higher profitability. In contrast, a larger business isn’t going to touch the smaller niches because they want to make much larger profits than the smaller niches will allow. The trick is to…

Deciding on which analytics matter most is an important step in helping you determine if the marketing strategy you have is producing the results you want. You’ll need to understand why you exist, what your goals are, and what data to collect to determine success or failure. Understand What Your Goals Are Whatever your marketing strategy is – whether content marketing, or social media marketing, it’s important to know why you’re doing it. Are you creating products to make the lives of your target market easier? Do you want more newsletter members? Are you trying to get sign-ups for a webinar? What exactly do you do, and why do you…

Most people think of content marketing as producing text-based content, writing words and sentences to sell a product or convey an idea. While that is true, that’s not all content is. Content also consists of images, infographics, logos, and other visual elements of your business, such as your website’s or blog’s look and feel. All these visual elements matter when it comes to marketing. You’ve probably noticed that so many things are more visual on the internet today than they used to be. People create photographic memes to pass around an idea or thought, they share pictures, and due to the advent of social media like Pinterest, marketing is more…

A great way to promote your business is to become an expert locally. Becoming a local expert in your field of expertise will boost your business in ways that you cannot imagine. It doesn’t matter whether you have an online business or a bricks and mortar business; being seen as a local go-to expert will increase your share of business. Start a Locally-Inspired Blog Create a blog that is focused on your local area within your niche. Use a lot of locally-focused keywords and talk directly to your local audience about your subject. You can use your blog as a repository for interviewing local people, writing information about your niche,…

When you think that you’ve picked a niche that is worth exploring deeper, it’s important that you test the niche to see if there is enough interest for you to earn money before you spend too much money developing, creating, and marketing a new product or service. One really great way to do so is to test interest with a teleseminar. A teleseminar can be given just over the phone, or online and on the phone. The audience can call in and listen live or listen to a recording. With some teleseminar platforms you can even play the teleseminar “as live” where the clients don’t realize that the event is…

Working from home is a great way to work around your family’s schedule or to avoid the ups and downs of the job market. Being a virtual assistant (VA) is also a great way to earn money working from home because you can be involved in so many different niches. You can be a traditional VA doing administrative work using technology to work at a distance, or you can be an administrative consultant who works with a team of virtual assistants. Some skills that are in high demand for virtual assistants are: WordPress Updating – Formatting and scheduling blog posts, as well as performing other simple updates using the WordPress…