Archive for January, 2010

Today’s candidates for the Messy Desk Hall of Fame

By Donna Marrin

(Or, should I say… Hall of Shame?) clip_image002

Well, well, well. I’m feeling rather chipper these days. Why? Because I thought my desk was the messiest ever and I was feeling a bit ashamed.

Then I got a photo last week that showed the horrendous state of my accountant’s desk and the sight of it caused my chin to lift a little off my chest.

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clip_image004This week, after receiving some more very competitive photos, I now have a bounce in my step and am able to maintain eye contact for an indefinite length of time.

It’s kind of hard to see, but here the desk of STAPLES’ $200 gift card winner, Pam T, from Belleville, Ontario. That money would be well spent on some packing cartons!

clip_image006And this workspace of xxx repute belongs to STAPLES’ $100 gift card winner, Steve B of Guelph. P.S. Is that a baseball bat leaning up against the file drawers? I don’t think I speak for myself alone when I say, NOT A GOOD IDEA, Steve—especially if it’s within easy reach of your computer monitor on one of those days!

Come on, folks—make my Friday! Send me more icky photos!

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Organized, Lifestyle on January 29th, 2010

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5 Myths Of Online Marketing – Part 2

By: Ryan Freeman

We’re back for part two of the list I began yesterday [link to first post], talking about our Top 5 Online Marketing Myths.

3. Search Engines Are Your Friend

clip_image002Myth: Search engines are the best thing to happen to business owners – cancel all other advertising!

Background: Many business owners think that search engines exist to promote the interests of website owners by providing a steady stream of traffic. They view search engines as the saviour of small businesses – a reliable source of endless free business leads.

Fact: A search engine’s only responsibility is to the user – not the website owner. As above, search engines live and die on their ability to provide the most relevant results to a user, thereby creating loyalty and trust in the user. If the results are not relevant, the user might switch to a different engine (just ask Yahoo! how that works).

Best Practice: Enjoy the traffic you get from the search engines, and keep working to maintain or increase the flow of leads. Seek to diversify your traffic sources. Remember that a search engine has no loyalty or responsibility to you, so the moment your competitors position themselves as being more relevant, they will get your traffic. Don’t become complacent or you will lose market share – and the search engines will offer no sympathy or comfort.

4. Meta Tags Are The Secret Sauce

Myth: If I cram the right keywords into meta tags often enough into the pages of my site, I will rank higher in the search results.clip_image004

Background: Like keyword density, this fable keeps hanging around, likely because it, too, offers a simple and easy solution to the complex problem of search rankings. A decade or more ago, search engines placed some weight on the values in the “keywords” and “description” meta tags on a Web page. The meta tags are not visible to users of the website, but provided some contextual information for the robots crawling the site. As you can imagine, this was quickly exploited – and quickly devalued.

Fact: Search engines ignore the “keywords” tag. So should you. Stuffing it full of off-topic, repeated permutations of your generic keywords won’t help you, but it might hurt if you’re flagged as a spammer. The “description” tag won’t help with rankings, but can certainly help attract clicks as this descriptive text is often used to form your listing in the search results.

Best Practice: Write short, inviting descriptions of two or three sentences, including the key phrases targeted so that your listing will appear more attractive to a search engine user. As with keyword density, if your software or search marketing consultant focus is on meta tags, it’s time to cut your losses and run.

5. A No. 1 Ranking Is The Key To Riches & Success 

clip_image006Myth: If I can rank number one for “lawyer,” my law firm will have customers lined up for eternity.

Background: It’s true that having a number-one ranking on a search engine will drive much more traffic than a lower ranking, but as search terms become increasingly longer, it’s more and more important to focus on ranking for specific and relevant terms, not just one-word generic queries. If you’re practicing real estate law, it won’t do you any good to have a stream of traffic looking for a good DUI attorney. Additionally, ranking for obscure terms is vanity if no one is searching for those phrases.

Fact: Keyword research is an essential first step in building a website. Before the design, before the content, you need to know what phrases are best for you to target. There are several free keyword research tools available online to help you build a suitable list.

Bonus Fact: No ethical search marketing firm will guarantee search engine rankings, simply because no one can guarantee the behaviour of a third party – in this case, the search engine. Often the firms that promote guaranteed rankings will also mandate that they get to select the keywords. This leads to money being wasted on irrelevant, low-competition keywords where ranking is more easily achieved but is of little value.

Best Practice: Research your targeted keyword phrases at the beginning of your project and continually expand and revise your list. Target more generic (but relevant!) terms on the top-level pages and more specific terms on sub-pages of your site. By siloing your content, you will paint a thematic picture for the search engines, rank for the appropriate terms and provide a better experience for the user – which leads to more conversions and a profitable business.

Truth be told, this topic could easily be expanded into a twenty-post series dealing with myth and misinformation, but it’s my hope that the points I’ve outlined here will help you avoid costly mistakes and the occasional snake oil salesman.

Got questions or disagreements? What are your favourite SEO myths? Post your responses in the comments below.

 

 

Ryan Freeman is a fifth-generation small business owner and the founder of Strider Inc., an online marketing firm providing SEO consulting and online marketing strategies for businesses and non-profit groups. You can contact Ryan through the Strider Inc. website, email or by phone at 800-314-8895.

Posted by Lynnette in Marketing on January 28th, 2010

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5 Myths Of Online Marketing – Part 1

By: Ryan Freeman

In my line of work, I am blessed to encounter many businesses of all shapes, sizes and varieties. From Mom-n-Pop retailers to international manufacturers, there are some truths that invariably apply when it comes to online marketing. When it came time to pick a topic for this post, I thought: “Does the world really need another ‘Intro to Web Marketing’ post?” When barely half of all small businesses even have a website, I think the answer is clear.

There is much that can be said to explain what online marketing is, but for this post I want to talk about what is isn’t. And so, based on conversations with clients over the past fifteen years, here is my list of the Top 5 Web Marketing Myths.

1. Keyword Density

clip_image002Myth: It is essential to have “keyword density” on each page of X%.

Background: The myth of keyword density is one that just doesn’t seem to go away. No matter how many times it is discounted, keyword density keeps resurfacing in cheap ebooks and low-grade SEO tools. I think this particular myth has survived for as long as it has simply because it creates an easy and understandable metric for people new to SEO, regardless of its effectiveness.

Fact: Using Google as an example (because they do deliver up to 80% of North American Web search traffic), there are reportedly hundreds of factors, each weighted differently, with the weights being adjusted daily. If you spend your time trying to find the right trick for today’s algorithm, you’re just putting yourself further behind tomorrow, as your competition invests in proven long-term strategies. Also, content written with keyword density in mind does not have a natural flow and will usually appear awkward to readers.

Best Practice: Build relevant and topical content that engages users, on a site that is well structured and easily crawlable by the search engines. Even if keyword density was a reality, it’s no good to you if your site is blocked by flash, forms or bad coding. If you come across any SEO “gurus” or software packages that advise a target keyword density, ask for your money back and run.

2. Search Engines Are The Enemy

clip_image004Myth: Search engines are adversaries that must be deceived.

Background: It’s not uncommon to see business owners frustrated by what they perceive to be a lack of justice on the part of the search engines. Of course, to the business owner, the “injustice” is ranking a competitor higher in the search results. No matter that the competition has a professionally developed website with engaging content and links from authoritative sites, while the offended business relies on  a site built by the owner’s fourteen-year-old nephew who’s really good at video games.

Fact: Search engines live and die on relevance. They are not able to suggest which is the better business, but rather, they offer results in order of relevancy to the searchers’ query. For the most part, that relevance is determined based on what clues you offer up in your site’s content and structure, along with the references to your site in links on other sites.

Best Practice: Don’t try to fool the search engines by playing dirty tricks like stuffing keywords in the text, or hiding type on the page. Not only will you be creating a poor experience for your potential customers (and likely driving them to your competitor’s professionally crafted site), but you run the risk of being penalized or banned by the search engines for employing spamming tactics. Instead, make sure you have your Web pages grouped into themed “silos” of information and write in a way that matches the searcher’s terminology. The more you can appear naturally relevant, the higher you will be ranked by the search engines – without the potential downfalls.

Tune in tomorrow for the three remaining Online Marketing Myths. In the meantime, let me know what you think about the first two in the comments below.

 

Ryan Freeman is a fifth-generation small business owner and the founder of Strider Inc., an online marketing firm providing SEO consulting and online marketing strategies for businesses and non-profit groups. You can contact Ryan through the Strider Inc. website, email or by phone at 800-314-8895.

Posted by Lynnette in Marketing on January 27th, 2010

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Is social media a trend that's too big for your business to ignore?

If it felt like everyone was talking about Twitter last year, it wasn’t your imagination. According to the Global Language Monitor, which documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language, Twitter was the top word of 2009, beating out other trendy words like H1N1, 2.0, Deficit and, of course, Obama.

That’s not all. According to Nielsen Online, Twitter grew 1,382% – and that was just from February 2008 to 2009! Other social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn also saw impressive growth.

Forrester’s Nate Elliott says the social craze is here to stay and Canadians are the world leaders in embracing it. In fact, he says 57% of us use social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at least once a month. (Americans are second, trailing at 51%.)

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Okay. So how does all this twittering, facebooking and linking in impact your business?

It turns out some Canadian marketers like Vancity and Molson have been using social media for 3 or 4 years. For the rest of us—social networking newbie’s—we have some catching up to do.

Forrester developed a cool tool your business can use to better understand your customers who use social media. Check it out here.

And the Harvard Business Blog’s David Armano, offers some additional insight with his six social media trends for 2010:

1. As networks continue to fill with noise, more will allow users to select the chatter they most want to hear.

2. Most companies will use social technology to find effective ways to serve customers more economically.

3. Businesses will become more savvy at providing incentives to increase activity within their networks.

4. Companies will formalize how their employees can—and should—use social media network to interact directly with customers.

5. As many organizations ban social networks on work PCs, smartphones will become the social media vehicle of choice.

6. Email sharing will become so ‘Year 2000’ as more websites allow users to share information directly through networks—why email when you can tweet?

What’s your experience with social media been like? How do you plan on taking advantage of the power of social networks in 2010?

Posted by Lynnette in Marketing on January 26th, 2010

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A business relationship you can bank on.

If you’ve been building your small business for some time, consider this: how much of your time is spent doing the work you love – whether it’s teaching yoga or redesigning home interiors or selling widgets? And how much is taken up by tasks you may not have thought about too much at the outset – planning, calling, scheduling, calculating, hiring, advertising?

The fact is every small businessperson must become a jack (or jill) of all trades to succeed. But that doesn’t mean you can’t rely on help from a handful of experts to lighten the load. Among the most important can be your small business bank manager. In addition to coordinating your banking needs and helping you extend your credit or get a loan when you need it most, bankers offer something no entrepreneur can do without: good advice.

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Dale Wilton and Kyle McNamara present the merits of small business bank managers in their book, Get Growing: Keys to Unlocking the Potential of Your Small Business.

“They highlight potential risks in your business plan and encourage you to consider different viewpoints and alternative strategies. They have a good deal of experience working with other small business owners and can help translate successful strategies they have seen before into tangible recommendations for you.”

Banker, Thomas Woolway, agrees. He says it’s paramount to find a banker you feel comfortable working with, who will take the time to understand your needs and industry realities.

“Your banker will be your advocate within the bank… View your banker as you do your attorney, your CPA and your insurance agent. These people are valuable resources to help you run your business more effectively.”

Unlike a lawyer or accountant, however; your bank manager’s services are usually part of your relationship with the bank, so consulting a banker can be a cost-effective way to get the guidance you need.

Do you know your business manager? How has s/he been helpful in building your business?

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on January 25th, 2010

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STAPLES BizTIPs 4business: Pay attention to Boomers

By: Small Business Expert, Roger Pierce, BizLaunch

Any new entrepreneur should pay close attention to the huge “baby boomer” segment in Canada. A “boomer” is a person born between 1947 and 1966, and we have over 10-million of them in this country – proportionately more than any other nation involved in World War II.
Responsible for pushing sales through the roof for such products as mini-vans and mutual funds, such a large number of people in one age bracket affect almost every industry and business.
Here’s why smart marketers and business owners should pay attention to the boomer generation:

  • Spending power. Most boomer couples are both working and are now entering their peak income years. That means they’ve got little time, but lots of money to spend.
  • Spoiled kids. Known as the “Baby Boomer Echo,” boomers buy name brand clothes, gadgets and expensive vacations for their children.
  • Early retirement. Boomers don’t want to work forever, so they’re plowing money into RRSPs, real estate and other financial options to make money quickly.
  • Credit generation. Unlike their cash-only parents, Boomers aren’t good savers so they’re more likely to take advantage of your pay-later option.
  • Well-educated. Boomers went to college and university, so don’t try to con these savvy consumers with false promises. They’re also using the Internet to check out your business before making contact.

You can learn more about this and other how-to topics in a free STAPLES BizLaunch Seminar or Webinar. To find one near you, please visit http://www.staples.ca/bizlaunch today.



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ROGER PIERCE is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve success. Co-founder of Canada’s largest small business training company, BizLaunch.ca, he’s launched eleven small businesses of his own and personally experienced what he calls “the good, the bad and the ugly” sides of entrepreneurship.

BizLaunch advises thousands of Canadian startups through its popular how-to seminars and webinars delivered with partners such as STAPLES.

Posted by Lynnette in STAPLES BizTIPs on January 22nd, 2010

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Independence vs. interdependence: building a winning team

If you’re an entrepreneur with a dream of building something that lasts, you intuitively understand the demand to be a ‘jack of all trades.’ So it’s no surprise that when you start building your team, you’re likely to look for others with qualities similar to your own – employees who are self-motivated, who don’t need a lot of direction and who can work independently.

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Marcia Hoeck,

“The temptation,” says small business consultant, Marcia Hoeck, “is to put them at a desk and just let them do the job, thinking, ‘Good, that’s one less thing I have to worry about.’” But the truth is, you’re trying to build an interdisciplinary team of smart people who can work interdependently – not off on their own. Building a team where no one acts like a team can have negative, long-term consequences to the success of your company. 

London Business School’s, Lynda Gratton and Tamara Erickson, president of the Concours Institute, have pinpointed eight factors vital to turning a disparate staff into a collaborative team, among them:

1. Act as role models at the executive level – setting the example helps cooperation trickle down to the rest of the team.

2. Establish a “gift culture” – mentor employees daily, instead of creating a transaction-based tit-for-tat culture; they should feel like you care all the time, not just when you need something from them.

3. Make use of heritage relationships – bolster teams with members who know and trust each other from previous interactions.

4. Create a real community – foster a greater sense of camaraderie by sponsoring regular fun and educational group activities.

5. Get trained – you may be an expert in what your business sells, but that doesn’t guarantee you understand the skills needed for successful communication and conflict resolution. Find someone who does and learn.

Adds Hoeck: “…building a culture of interdependence can help teams to rely on each other, which can alleviate all the craziness of problems like withholding of information, sabotage, cliques, prima donnas, and a raft of other tricks that people resort to when they don’t feel valued as part of a team.”

Executive coach, Howard Shore, offers 15 more great ideas to help build and motivate your team here.

What strategy or tip can you offer to help build a cohesive, winning team?

Posted by Lynnette in Small Business Spotlight on January 21st, 2010

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Am I ready for Windows 7? – Part Two

By: Mike Robinson

After only a few hours operating Windows 7, I was sold. Right from the get-go, the experience was startling. I performed a clean install of Windows 7 on my Core 2 Duo notebook and was shocked when it took only about 25 minutes to complete. On the same notebook, Vista took close to an hour to install.

When the installation was finished, every single device was recognized. Windows 7 found everything and installed the appropriate driver automatically. I didn’t have to spend hours scouring the Internet to try and find drivers for my printer or scanner either. (Who actually keeps driver CDs right?) With Vista, I would have spent hours trying to find drivers for everything.

The second thing I noticed was how little space on the hard drive Windows 7 consumed. It was less than half of what Vista had hogged on the same system.

When I first installed Windows 7 Professional on my PC, I was expecting a shiny new version of Windows Vista. What I discovered was an operating system that delivered on what Vista couldn’t. The computer seemed to run smoother on Windows 7 than Vista. Things seemed snappier and much more responsive. All of my drivers and devices worked.

I have been running 7 now for several months and so far, no crashes, no blue-screens. No issues whatsoever. So far, I have been extremely impressed.

As I said before, most businesses did not make the move to Vista because of the incompatibilities with legacy hardware and software. The biggest development with Windows 7, however, is its ability to run in “XP-Mode.” If you have software that can only run on an XP machine, Windows 7 has the ability to run any XP application in a virtual XP environment. You just need to make sure that your PC supports the feature. You also need Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate to take advantage of this feature. So, should you upgrade or not?

In the past, I would have recommended that most people wait for at least six to twelve months before making the switch. Wait for the first service pack so that any major bugs are ironed out. Stick with what is working for you.

That said, Windows 7 is truly impressive. On today’s newer hardware, it’s faster, more reliable and more secure than XP. I see no reason why anyone wouldn’t feel at ease making the move to Windows 7.

Have you tried Windows 7 yet? If so, tell us what you think.

 

Mike Robinson is a Purchasing Manager specializing in Computer Hardware for Staples Canada.

Posted by Lynnette in Technology on January 20th, 2010

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Am I ready for Windows 7? – Part One

By: Mike Robinson

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You still have Windows XP on your machine because you heard all the negative hype surrounding Windows Vista. From the software and hardware incompatibilities, to the overall clumsiness of Vista, many businesses continue to use XP today because it just plain works. You may have been one of the unfortunate people who tried Vista, only to revert back to XP, wasting hundreds of dollars in the process.

Enter Windows 7—It’s been a little over three months since the launch and you’ve been hearing so much positive hype around this new operating system from Microsoft. But you are still very skeptical. After all, Vista was supposed to be the next big thing. It promised a faster, safer, more secure experience and it caused you nothing but headaches. The last thing you want is to go through that again.

Windows 7, however, has changed the game.

When I first installed Windows 7 on my laptop, I, too, was skeptical. I mean, it’s only been two-and-a-half years, and now here’s another version of Windows? I had toyed with Vista on and off, trying to make a go of it, but always found myself going back to XP for its compatibility, familiarity, reliability and speed.

But after a few hours with Windows 7, I was sold.

(Stay tuned… Part Two continues tomorrow.)

What did you think of Windows Vista? Tell us about your experiences.

 

Mike Robinson is a Purchasing Manager specializing in Computer Hardware for Staples Canada.

Posted by Lynnette in Technology on January 19th, 2010

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Sounds too good to be true? It usually is.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Lately, there has been a lot of publicity around scams—from pyramid to Ponzi schemes. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) crime survey reported that 56% of Canadian companies fell victim to economic crime in the last 12 months. I’m wondering why more of us aren’t wiser to signs we’re being scammed.

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Wise or not, every year thousands of individuals and businesses lose money (and a little pride) thanks to scam artists.

PwC advises that larger organizations develop robust anti-fraud measures. But what if you’re a home office or small business entrepreneur without a huge crime prevention budget? What steps can you take to protect yourself and your livelihood?

Scambusters, an online fraud resource, offers 10 tips to help you steer clear of work-at-home and home-based business scams. Among them:

1. Never pay for ‘the chance to work’ You would never take an office opportunity seriously if an interviewer asked you to pay any sort of fee to land the job. The same is true for home-based ones. If someone asks you for money to work or to provide information about the job, it’s a scam.

2. Use your credit card to make purchases While this may sound counter-intuitive, if you’re buying a starter kit or need to make a home-based business investment, using your credit card can make it easier for you to dispute the charges with the credit card company later. If you pay by cash or cheque and the opportunity is a scam, your money is likely lost for good.

3. If it sounds too good to be true… Companies that claim you can “make up to $1,000 a week” doing just a few hours of work are likely scams.

4. Don’t be desperate Posting online forum messages that you’re in financial trouble and need to find work from home is like flying a red cape in front of a bull.

5. Spam often means scam Home-based business scams are often initiated by email spam, making suspicious or unrealistic promises. Again, if it sounds too good to be true…

Monster.ca offers some more tips on home job scams here.

Have you been the victim of a work-from-home scam or know someone who has? Please share your advice.

Posted by Lynnette in Lifestyle, Technology on January 18th, 2010

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