Phil Gerbyshak

5 Ways To Increase Your Online Business’ Visibility Offline

Phil Gerbyshak — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Those of us who manage an online business know that the virtual world provides us with more than enough challenges and opportunities, places where we can grow and problems that stand in our way. We can work to boost SEO, attempt to find the best online storage sites, and market our business across a wide variety of platforms. We can add interactive media to our sites, increase revenue by bringing in advertisers, and post content on other sites as a way of insuring our credibility. The possibilities are truly endless.

Due to the never ending opportunities offered online to online enterprises, few online businesses consider expanding their horizons and marketing themselves in the physical world – off of the internet. For some, this is a good decision, as doing so would merely amount to a waste of resources. But, for others, it is a lost opportunity. Not sure which of these categories your business would fall into?

Here are 3 questions to ask yourself to know whether offline marketing is right for your online business:

Do You Offer a Niche Product or Service?

This is the ultimate question to ask yourself when considering offline marketing. If the product or service that you offer is one that does not have a niche end-market, it’s going to be more difficult to find appropriate places to advertise offline. But if you sell a niche product, on the other hand, you likely have industry sites, forums, and conventions at your disposal.

What Demographic Do You Seek to Target?

People of all ages are on the internet these days, and it is no longer surprising to hear that a young child or a senior citizen is an avid web browser. Nevertheless, online businesses that start increasing their visibility offline usually target a more mature demographic in doing so.

Can You Be the Face of Your Business?

Advertising online allows a business – and its manager – to hide behind a computer console and a sea of anonymity. Offline marketing is different. For most internet businesses that look to diversify and take this approach, a common initial strategy involves going to conventions, talking about the business, and trying to network in the physical world.

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can start increasing your small business’ visibility offline.

Increasing your small business’ visibility offline

1. Buy Advertising Space

Many people overlook this tried-and-true marketing method, in large part because they are scared away by the costs. But buying advertising space offline does not need to be more expensive than placing an ad in the online world – so long as you know where to look. For example, a full page spread in a national newspaper may require a substantial budget. A small ad in the local paper, however, or a sign or a leaflet campaign, will usually be far more economical.

2. Earn Free Press

Getting free press is one of the best ways to maximize exposure and minimize costs in the offline world. How can one go about making this happen? Simply put, in order to receive press you need to be able to generate a news story. Most businesses do this by announcement a unique promotion or making a commitment to a social cause.

3. Follow Your Target Niche

If you sell products or services to a niche demographic, there’s a good chance that members of your demographic meet and communicate in the offline world. This is usually done through newsletters and at tradeshows, industry rallies, and even at conventions. Making your presence known in these arenas – even if it simply means showing up at a convention and talking to the attendees – can do much to boost your business’ visibility.

4. Get Involved Your Local Community

For generations, businesses large and small have gained added exposure by actively engaging in their local communities. They sponsored Little League teams, set up a booth at the 4th of July parade, and handed out water at the local road race. These are good approaches to follow even today, and even for those companies that have no physical local presence.

5. Self-Promote

Self-promoting your business primarily means using your personal space as a free advertising canvass. For most companies that do this – and especially for those online – that canvass is usually the side of a car. If you drive around all day with your website boldly displayed on your vehicle, there’s no doubt that at least a few curious onlookers will go and check it out. My favorite example of this is my buddy Chris Sherman and his business’ Amerisign Graphics vehicle.

These are just five of the main ways you can increase your business’ visibility offline. In today’s increasingly-cluttered internet world, consumers frequently filter out all kinds of online advertisements, promotions, and marketing strategies. In many respects, it may be easier to generate visibility while working offline. As more and more businesses turn to the internet for all their marketing needs, those that can effectively market in the online AND the offline worlds are ultimately those best poised for long-term success.

Your turn: What are your best ways for increasing your online business’ visibility offline?

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/5110795452/in/photostream/

How Great Leaders Create Innovation by Breaking Away

Phil Gerbyshak — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:30:39 +0000

Recently I’ve been able to talk to Jane Stevenson and Bilal Kaafarani about their new book Breaking Away. It’s a fantastic book about how great leaders create innovation, and it’s filled with tips on how your business can be more innovative without breaking the bank. What follows are some questions that can help your business be more innovative and learn from all the research Jane and Bilaal did for this book.

Phil: Let’s start by defining innovation. What is it – and why do so many get it wrong?

Jane & Bilal: Innovation is a term that is often used, but seldom understood. That’s because the word has a mystical quality that infers something new or magical, but isn’t clearly defined. Often when people talk about innovation they are each referring to different things and don’t even realize it. Thus the confusion. Since everyone talks about innovation and agrees it is needed, wouldn’t it be powerful if we all used a common definition and could actually communicate about it with mutual understanding?

In the research for “Breaking Away”, we met initially with 50 top executives, asking each to define innovation, before we came to our first duplicate definition on the 51st interview. That was proof to us that having a common language around innovation was clearly needed. In looking at innovation down through the ages, we found that there were three common ingredients to almost any innovation. These three form a litmus test that defines innovation as something that is 1) unique, 2) of value, and 3) worthy of exchange. We’ve found widespread acceptance for this definition. What do you and your readers think?

Phil: You reference 4 levels of innovation (transformational, marketplace, category and operational). Which one can help a small business grow the most? The fastest?

Jane & Bilal: Of the four types of innovation, Category innovation can help a small business grow the fastest, and probably the most dramatically (within a reasonable time frame). The reason for this is that Category innovations create whole new sectors with major upside and new markets to serve. They are often breakthrough in nature, and yet are proven enough to realistically provide growth within a couple year time frame.

Transformational innovation, potentially provides the biggest upside, but often takes well over a decade to achieve social adoption. This makes it so risky and long term in orientation that it can kick in after a small company’s window of business opportunity may already have closed.

Marketplace is another situation altogether. With Marketplace Innovation, the opportunity is quick to deliver to market, but it is typically highly competitive, and less sustainable. This is because it is based on new features and benefits rather than whole new categories or markets to develop.

Operational will help a small company operate cheaper, faster or better, but it is unlikely to generate significant new revenue. The opposite of Category innovation, Operational innovation generally benefits the bottom line more than the top line.

Phil: Your book says that “What if?” has been at the center of innovation for centuries. Please explain this.

Jane & Bilal: The question “What if?” is the curiosity factor that ultimately generates innovation. What if, is the precursor to discovery, and discovery is the precursor to innovation. If it is a science based company, the discovery process begins by saying “What if this were possible?” or “What if we tried X, would Y then be possible?”. If it is a financial services company, a telecommunications company or an IT company the question might be, “What if people could deposit funds using their mobile phone?” Or “what if we could send funds to a relative by phone?” The “What if?” factor is essential to generating the discovery phase of innovation.

Phil: Quoting Breaking Away: “Customer feedback is an important component for innovation.” If this is true, why do so many companies (Apple as an example) either not ask for this feedback or outright ignore the feedback from their customers?

Jane & Bilal: Customer feedback is important for innovation because it can serve as a guide to future discovery and opportunity development. People often don’t utilize customer feedback because they are a solution looking for a problem. If they have to find a problem that fits their solution, then they are already locked in to a particular conversation that may or may not intersect with customers.

You mention Apple as an example. Many of Apple’s biggest innovations have been things that customers would not have directly asked for, because they didn’t know the offering was even a possibility. This should not for a minute suggest that Apple is not getting feedback from its customers. They have studied their customers so well, that they understand from customer feedback, what they would want, if they knew it was possible. The best companies are those that study their customers so closely and cleverly that they understand desires even before the customer knows him or herself.

Phil: Another important concept in your book is the idea of trade-offs and how it relates to risk. Please briefly explain this idea.

Jane & Bilal: Risk is an essential part of innovation. Bilal always says that “risk is innovation’s middle name”. The question is, how much risk is there and how much upside is the trade-off for that risk? If the upside is significant, than you can afford to take more risk. By contrast, if the upside is minimal, then the risk should be contained also.

Phil: Is innovation more important in a down economy or an up economy, and why?

Jane & Bilal: The answer is both. In a down economy, innovation is important to help restart the engine of growth. In an up economy, innovation is an imperative to keeping the economy strong.

Phil: What did I miss that you would you like to make sure my readers know?

Jane & Bilal: One of the unique things we share in “Breaking Away” is how to identify not only the four levels of innovation, but also the needed leadership profile and what type of cultural environment is essential for success with each. This is why “Breaking Away’ is truly a breakthrough book. It lays out the world’s first innovation framework, and then additionally provides a roadmap to the leadership selections and cultural fit that will enhance the odds for success. Innovation should be managed similarly to an investment portfolio. You need different levels of risk, different levels of reward and different types of people to maximize the innovation outcomes.

For more information about Breaking Away, the best way is either www.breakingawaythebook.com, or www.winningjaguar.com. Both are chock full of information about Jane & Bilal and about innovation for the 21st century.

Ultimate Guide to Sending Business Email That Gets Results

Phil Gerbyshak — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:30:14 +0000

I left my job as an IT manager in corporate America in June of 2010. I used to receive upwards of 2500 messages a day, and some days sent out 200 or so, most of which required a reply from someone on the other end. I wasn’t the perfect sender (or receiver for that matter) but the most important messages I sent typically got a response in the time frame I needed a response in. I believe it’s because I found a secret formula that I used each time I sent an important message. I’ve broken that down so you can use it to send important emails to your customers, whether you’re a corporate citizen or a freelancer.

If you read and use these tips, you’ll send email that gets results. And if you read all the way to the end of the article and leave YOUR best tip, you just might win a $50 Amazon gift card.

Pro tip: Do NOT start by putting who the message is to be sent to in the TO, CC or BCC line. This will stop a message from accidentally being sent too soon, before you are done or before you’ve attached a critical attachment. If you don’t do this, you may have to re-send your message, confusing all the recipients and you.

Greeting – Before you do anything else, insert a warm greeting, using the people you want to act on the email’s first name.

Body: The body is the guts of your message. Try to use only 1 topic per message so your message is as clear as possible. If you have more than 1 topic to discuss, send more than 1 message.

In the body of the message:

Begin with your most important thing – Put the bottom line up front. Start with what you need or what’s most important. Think of this as an executive summary as some people don’t read any further than the first 4 lines of your message.
Use bullet points for lists – If you have a list, use bullet points to aid in
Use bold when necessary for emphasis especially of key dates or information that must be read. Know that most people will skim and read ONLY what is in bold and bullet points.
Use bold for main point in bullet points and then expand on your point to add more information that aids in understanding your main point.
Don’t mix fonts or add colors unless there is a warning of what happens if there is a missed deadline – Warnings can be bold and red

Attach any critical documents now

Documents should have a relevant name – Doc1.doc says nothing if the attachment is separated from the email. Far better – Budget Document for January 2012 Board Meeting.doc

Documents should be explained in the body of the message – Tell people what the attachment is and why they need to open it. If they need to review and fax it back, say so.

End of message:

Close – Repeat the action requested or the need you have and the due date and how you expect response.

Signature includes your name and the best ways to reach you if there are questions.

Now complete the first parts of the message:

Subject line: States what the email is about and when the action is due by.

To: Use the TO line ONLY for those who must act on email. Be careful not to overdo the TO line or nobody will act, assuming someone else will handle it.

CC line: Use this for those who need to be in the know but not act on your message.

NOTE: CC is not for covering your assets (CYA) – Do not assume anyone in the CC line actually reads the message as they are not action on the message. If you’re expecting action, put them in the TO line. If you’re expecting them to read and respond to it, say so in the early part of the message and put them in the TO line or send them a separate message with what you are expecting they do.

BCC: Don’t use this or risk embarrassing yourself if they reply to all. Also, just because you BCC someone doesn’t mean they won’t forward it all over the world, with no trace of them as you’re the one who sent it.

If you use these tips, your email will get you the results you’re hoping for and will prevent unnecessary questions.

For more email tips, read Why are People Always Misinterpreting My Emails over at Business on Main.

Your turn: What’s YOUR best tip for sending business email that gets results? Leave a tip, and you could win a $50 Amazon gift card. 2 random commenters will be drawn from the comments left as of February 3rd, 2012 at 6 PM central.

Disclaimer: My blog is a part of an online influencer network for Business on Main. I receive incentives to share my views on a monthly basis.

Create a Facebook Business Page – Step by Step

Phil Gerbyshak — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:30:09 +0000

If you’ve always wondered where the step by step instructions were for creating a Facebook business page, look no further than this presentation. I presented this as a training session for business owners in Racine, Waterford, Rochester, Burlington and the surrounding areas. Feel free to download it, print it out, and share any tips you have for making it even better.

Create a Facebook Business Page – Step by Step

View more presentations from Phil Gerbyshak

If you’re looking for someone to train your organization to use Facebook more effectively, or need training on any other social media platform, contact Phil Gerbyshak today.

Can Your Business Achieve Operational Excellence – an interview with Kevin Duggan

Phil Gerbyshak — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:30:24 +0000

What is operational excellence, and how can your organization achieve operational excellence? While at first I thought this would be only for big business, in the 45 minutes (27 of which is below for your listening pleasure) I spent with Kevin Duggan, author of the new book Design for Operational Excellence, I realized this is DEFINITELY for small businesses.

Take 30 minutes and listen to Kevin’s insights about how you can use operational excellence in your business. Chances are, you’ll be very happy you did!

Social Search is here for Google

Phil Gerbyshak — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:45:11 +0000

Last week, Google announced (to MUCH fanfare online, but little fanfare offline) that they will be using more social search in their search engine ratings. What this means is you will see, if your friends and/or you are using Google+ (or other Google products) and you are using Google to search that you’ll see more personalized results from people in your network. Google calls it “Search Plus Your World” and it’s pretty interesting.

Rather than bore you with all the details, here’s a 70 second video from Google explaining the change a bit more.

Can’t see the video above? Click here to watch Google Search Plus Your World on YouTube

While Twitter and Google have gone back and forth on this (Twitter saying this is bad, and Google saying it’s all Twitter’s fault, read about it here), Jon Mitchell over at Read Write Web has written the best explanation of how Google is doing what it’s doing – and how you might incorporate it into your website too.

My thoughts on this are simple: Google is the biggest site for search. If you want to rank well on their site, you need to leverage their tools in the right way to boost your rankings. I’m not passing judgement – just sharing a statement of what I believe to be true.

How can you leverage Google’s tools in the right way?

Get a Google profile – You need to start by showing people how YOU want to be found. As a small business owner, stand up and be counted. Set up a complete profile at http://profiles.google.com

Put your business on the (Google) map – Add your business to Google Places listing sooner than later. Add as much information as you know. Don’t worry – you can edit it later.

Upload some photos of your business and your neighborhood on Picasa – Small businesses are seldom are so private you don’t want to share pictures of your building and your neighborhood. Take a few snaps with your smart phone or digital camera, and upload them to Picasa.

Read more about the changes in Google’s own words at Search, plus Your World.

YOUR TURN: Are you doing anything differently because of these changes? If so, what is YOUR best way to take advantage of Google’s recent changes? What help do you need to take best advantage of these changes?

Happy Birthday Meet-Meme

Phil Gerbyshak — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:30:45 +0000

Meet-Meme, my favorite social media trading cards are turning 1 this month. Well, 1 year old is how old their retail website is. They’re actually almost 2 years old. Happy birthday!!

If you’re not familiar, below are my cards (front and back). After the pictures, I’ll explain why I love them so much.

Click on them to see them in full size.

I love these cards for MANY reasons, but here are a few that stand out.

Why I Love Meet-Meme Social Media Trading Cards

1) Size matters – I love the fact they are oversized and are as big as a baseball card (hence the term social media trading cards. Nobody has this size business card, except other Meet-Meme folks. Sure, it’s not perfect in the pocket, but it’s not typical. I’m not either

2) They’re a conversation piece – With that huge of a picture of me, folks notice it. And talk about it. And share it. And talk about it some more. People remember my Meet-Meme cards, even if they forget me or my name.

3) They’re always changing designs – They have a TON of different colors, and often they create special themes that you can unlock (like the retro video games one my current cards are) that are available for a limited time only.

4) I can change the information inexpensively - With orders as few as 20 cards, I can order a few cards with a bunch of information on them, then if I don’t like them or they don’t get any results, I can order more with different information (or a different design).

5) I get a landing page and a neat QR code with links to other properties – If you look closely on the back, you’ll see a QR code. That’s the graphic you may not know what it is. You can make your own (for free) if you want. It’s cool though. What is extraordinary is I get a free landing page to list my other web properties. Visit http://mtme.me/d97c37 to see mine. Pretty cool on the desktop huh? And what’s even MORE extraordinary is if you scan in the QR code on your mobile app. Check out what shows up now.

And each tab is clickable. Pretty cool huh?

6) I can design them myself – This is probably the biggest reason I love Meet-Meme. I am not a designer so the fact I can design my own cards makes me VERY happy. Just a few clicks, and I get cool cards. With my photo on them. Awesome sauce!

So to celebrate the fact they just turned 1, if you order you can get your cards shipped anywhere in the US and Canada for just 1 penny. That’s right, 1 penny for shipping! Now through the end of January. Woot!

Happy birthday Meet-Meme!

If you’re a small business owner who is even a little active on social media, pick up pack or 2 of Meet-Meme cards and give them away when you’re networking. See what people say. I’ll bet you get remembered WAY more than with your usual business cards, which will lead to more business, or at least more awareness of who you are and what you do.

And here’s the press release on what they are doing to celebrate, in case you want more information or need more convincing before you buy your own cards.

CONTACT:

Anna Tiry

414-297-9950

anna@meet-meme.com

http://www.meet-meme.com

Meet-Meme Offers 1₵ Shipping on Social Trading Cards to Celebrate 1-Year Anniversary.

Meet-Meme’s original Social Trading Cards have been enhancing networking experiences for over a year.

MILWAUKEE, January 12, 2011 – Meet-Meme.com announces today 1₵ shipping for the rest of January in celebration of their launch to the public one year ago. Although the company has been providing social networking trading cards since the summer of 2010, the retail site was launched in early January, 2011.

Anyone with a presence on any social network site can take advantage of the social trading cards. Simply visit Meet-Meme.com and if you are one of the 800 million Facebook users, you can easily log in using Facebook or create an account with just your name, an email and password.

“Our growing community of Meet-Meme card holders understands that leading with your personal brand is good for business. When we meet people offline, it’s important to continue the relationship online, and then back offline again. Connecting people you meet to your personal digital dashboard allows your new contacts to connect with you where you are online,” said Jonathan Brewer, Co-Founder of Meet-Meme.com.

Meet-Meme allows you to break the ice with a unique conversation starter – your very own trading card. Afterwards, the person you’ve met has access to your personal digital dashboard which houses links to all of your social networks and personal links. The dashboard was built first for the mobile experience, and then expanded to the desktop experience. This valuable feature is included free with all card orders.

ABOUT MEET-MEME

Meet-Meme social trading cards bridge a user’s online and offline relationships. Each trading card tells a story about the individual and their evolving social media profile: stats, bio, networks, contact info, hobbies or even a favorite quote. In addition, a personalized URL and QR Code are used to link others to the cardholder’s entire digital footprint (social profiles, blogs, websites). It’s simple: meet, scan and connect. View more at: http://meet-meme.com.

Get Some Purple Goldfish to Amp Up Your Customer Experience from @9inchmarketing

Phil Gerbyshak — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:45:44 +0000

Today is the official launch day for my friend Stan Phelps’ new book What’s Your Purple Goldfish? 2 weeks ago I did a fantastic video interview with Stan to share with you today. Murphy’s Law being what it is, only Stan’s half of the audio was recorded. So rather than give you Stan answering questions you can’t hear, I read my own lips, typed them up, and added Stan’s responses, to provide you with this transcription of our conversation.

Before I share the interview, I wanted to share something: I didn’t believe Stan would ever find 1001 Purple Goldfish for his book. That’s not like me to not believe someone, but I really thought it was too ambitious of a goal. I implored Stan to stop at 200 or even 500, but thankfully for you, he didn’t listen to me. And I couldn’t be more proud of what he accomplished in finding 1,001 purple goldfish, of which he distilled down the lessons into this fantastic book. And if you buy the book, there’s an extra secret code in there that will allow you to read all 1,001 stories.

This interview (and Stan’s book) offers tips and insights to help small businesses create a consistently outstanding customer experience for their customers, one worth talking about to everyone, online and offline.

Now on with the interview.

Interview with Stan Phelps, author of What’s Your Purple Goldfish

Phil: What is a purple goldfish?

Stan: A purple goldfish is giving a little something extra to your customer at the time of purchase. It improves your customer’s experience with you. It differentiates you from your competition. And most importantly, it gives your customers something to talk about, online and offline.

Phil: What is lagniappe (pronounced lan-yap)?

Stan: The concept has acdtually been around since 1840s. It’s creole (French and Spanish). La Nappa is Spanish for the gift. Twain wrote about it in Life on the Mississippi. He said lagniappe was a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get.

Phil: What were some of your favorite Purple Goldfish?

Stan: AJ Bombers and Pizza Shuttle are 2 of my favorites from Milwaukee that you submitted. (NOTE: Links to these stories can be found at the end of this interview). But rather than use those, I’d like to share 2 or 3 others.

First, I love Double Tree Hotels. They give you a wonderfully large and warm chocolate chip cookie as soon as you check in.

Another of my favorites is the restaurant chain 5 Guys Burgers and Fries, which is not everywhere yet, but it will be soon. When you walk in, there’s a huge vat of ballpark peanuts to nosh on. Also, when you buy fries at 5 Guys, you not only get the fries in the cup, you get some “bonus fries” which is another handful or two in your bag.

Southwest Airlines is a final example with their “Bags Fly Free” program. And Southwest really does a lot with many little added values.

Phil: It seems to me that creating Purple Goldfish starts with the culture. Would you agree?

Stan: I wholeheartedly agree. A Purple Goldfish is what I call a beacon. It attracts people to it, it guides the way when things are tough, and it shines a light on the entire company.

A Purple Goldfish is really an unexpected extra without any expectation of return. It’s just that little extra. Great companies get this, and companies that are struggling don’t.

Another thing to remember: Happy employees create happy customers. Do a little extra for your employees and help them do a little extra for your customers. The more you can empower your employees to do the little extra, the more you can make all the difference to your customers.

Phil: What similarities did you see between all the companies you caught in your Purple Goldfish net?

Stan: In collecting 1001 purple goldfish, it became clear there were 2 major categories:

1) Value Examples – the tangible type of goldfish where you give extra value to your customers, like extra fries.

2) Maintenance Examples – All about the little things you can do to make it easy for the customer to deal with you. One of the categories is from the convenience perspective.

What do you do when your customers are waiting? Waiting is inevitable, so find a way to do something extra. Another one is how do you recover from a mistake?

My favorite example of service recovery is an elder care company from Canada called Nurse Next Door. When someone at Nurse Next Door screws up, they apologize and send a fresh baked apple pie (think of this as humble pie) as a sign of “Hey, we screwed up. Sorry about that.” They’ve been able to track this down to customers they’ve retained, and customers that have come about as a result of these accidental screw ups – and recoveries.

Phil: Why do you think more companies deliver Purple Goldfish to their customers?

Stan: Mainly because of this fact: 90% of customers don’t complain out loud – they complain with their wallet and go somewhere else with their business, so there’s no opportunity to do service recovery. There can be no other explanation.

Phil:What’s one easy way to provide your customers a purple goldfish?

Stan: Unfortunately, there is no simple thing. Find what your company does that’s signature and find a way to add a little something extra to that. Think about what one thing you can do to stand out, and be sticky – to make folks love you and want to tell your story to a few friends – or a few thousand friends.

Something else: I think the biggest myth in marketing is MEETING EXPECTATIONS. Just like being on time. It’s a myth – either you’re on time, or you’re late. It’s just like that for expectations. Either you exceed expectations, or you fall short. There’s no middle ground.

Meeting expectations is like playing prevent defense in football. It only prevents you from doing one thing – winning.

Phil: How can we find more about you and the Purple Goldfish book?

Stan: The book site is easy to spell and remember: http://purplegoldfish.com. If you want more examples and marketing insights, here’s one that’s harder to spell, but is my main site, http://marketinglagniappe.com.

Some final thoughts from Stan: The best businesses don’t just do one signature thing – they have a whole school of Purple Goldfish to exceed their customers expectations, each and every time they connect.

What are you waiting for? Go buy Stan’s Book What’s Your Purple Goldfish? NOW!

A Purple Goldfish from Stan and Amazon.com

From 1/11/12 until 1/15/12 you can get the Kindle version of What’s Your Purple Goldfish? book FREE – if you’re an Amazon prime member.

Additional Purple Goldfish Resources:

Follow Stan Phelps on Twitter

Read about the 2 Purple Goldfish I submitted to the project:

1st post about AJ Bombers
2nd post about AJ Bombers
Read about Pizza Shuttle’s purple goldfish

Google+ is a Waste of Time for Small Businesses

Phil Gerbyshak — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:20:00 +0000

- if your goal is to broadcast your message to as many potential customers as possible. In fact, if numbers are your only metric of success, then don’t waste your time with Google+ right now.

OK, now that the 7 of you disbelievers have stopped reading, let’s continue for the rest of you.

Google+ stats

Paul Allen reports Google+ has 62 million users, adding 625k users each day. (Image courtesy of Paul Allen).

Quoting Paul: “If this rate of new signups (625k daily) continues then Google+ will reach 100 million users on Feb. 25th and 200 million users on August 3. They will finish 2012 with 293 million users.”

To explain that in ways you can understand and compare it to something else, Facebook reports it has about 750 million users, putting Google+ at 39% as many users as Facebook – in just 12 months for Google+.

I bet you’re a little more interested now.

Other reasons to use Google+ for Small Business

1) As a first/early mover of businesses using Google+, folks will see your small business as someone they can ask questions of.

2) Google is also heavily weighting profiles and participation, so if someone is lagging in organic (unpaid) Google listings for their product/service, it’s an opportunity to move up the rankings.

3) Hangouts are video opportunities to hold mini-webinars to demo products or services. They’re free of charge, and no doubt you’ll soon be able to record your hangout and be able to upload them to (and refer back to them on) YouTube.

Examples: See Daniel Gordon and Samuel Gordon Jewelers for a great example of someone who is using Google+ effectively.

How to use Google+ For Small Business

Start by having all your key employees sign up for a personal account, and complete their profiles with photos, links to your online properties, and smiling photos. People love doing business with people. You can do this at http://plus.google.com

Share some relevant industry information – each person who has a Google+ account should now begin sharing some relevant information about your business’ industry. This should not be spammy, but instead information that would be of interest to people who do business with your business.

Share some relevant company information – If you have any great articles, now is a good time to share them. Just a few, not EVERYTHING you’ve ever posted.

After a few days, and at least 3 or 4 Google+ posts, you’re ready to create your business page.

Pick 1 person, and have her set up a Google+ business page. It’s as simple as clicking on this graphic in the right hand side of their Google+ profile.

For a complete profile, and to get the best results, she will need the company URL and a nice version of your corporate logo.

Publish the new business page on her Google+ profile (it’s an option at the end of the setup) and have everyone else who has Google+ share it with their followers.

Share a little bit here and a little bit there, measuring your time and seeing what happens with your investment. 30-90 minutes a week is all the time I’d invest right now.

For more ideas and information about using Google+ for your business, circle me on Google+, read What Can Google+ Do For Your Business over at Business on Main or pick up a copy of Chris Brogan’s Google+ for Business.

YOUR TURN: Is YOUR business using Google+ yet? If yes, please leave your businesses Google+ page in your comment. If you’re not, why not?

UPDATE: Google just updated their social search to make Google+ content even MORE relevant. Read about the Search Plus Your World update on the Official Google Blog.

Disclaimer: My blog is a part of an online influencer network for Business on Main. I receive incentives to share my views on a monthly basis.

Why you need to write at least once a week on your website

Phil Gerbyshak — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:45:22 +0000

My goal is 2012 is to post at least once a week, most weeks twice a week, to this blog. I’ll do it first for myself, as I need to get my thoughts on paper.

And I’ll do it for you, dear readers, as I owe you more consistency than I’ve given you in the past. Look for new posts on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays.

I’ll also do it for my business, and you should too. There are MANY reasons to do this for your business website, and I’ll share my 3 best reasons writing at least once a week will be good for your business.

Value – more information about how to use your product or service, innovations in your space, interviews with experts and customers, and relevant events that are in your local area are all great ways to add value to the lives of your readers.

Relevancy – The more information you write about your topics of expertise, the more relevant your website and by extension you and your business look on those topics. Take time to understand your topics, and why they matter to your readers, and write about them at least once a week.

Freshness – I share this in all my presentations about why you should write articles frequently. If someone comes to your website and the most recent article was published in November – of 2010 – they’re going away and not coming back. Think about this: Nobody reads the Sunday paper on Thursday. Would YOU read the Sunday paper on Thursday?

If you need help, create an accountability circle or find yourself an accountability partner. I found one in Lisa Sullivan. No, you can’t have her. Find your own Or ask your spouse to be your partner on this. My wife is a GREAT accountability partner, reminding me she enjoys reading my writing a lot. Thank you both for your help.

YOUR TURN: Do you write every week on your website? Why do you do it? What motivates you to keep writing?

Image credit to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenorton/2229437427/in/photostream/