Why pricing too low kills your dreams.

OK - that was a little extreme of a blog title, but hey, its my blog, I'm allowed  - tehehehehe.

PLEASE read this post from Sage Wedding Pros - its relevant whether you are in the wedding industry or not!  We have all priced ourselves too low at some point - its human nature - but you don't have to do it  - no matter what that self doubt in your head is telling you!

SEO Tips | How to write an effective title for your site/blog | Looking for YOU or looking for your service?

When potential clients are searching the internet for a service you offer - does your site title help or hurt?  If your site title does not list your service first, but rather lists your name or your company name first, then it may actually be hurting your business! 





StonehousePhoto Blog home page:  The title of the site is not "StonehousePhoto Blog" -  its circled.  Look at the top of your browser window for the full title.  The same goes for my StonehousePhoto.com site.

Small business marketing | Guest Blogger Kristen Sandstrom

Greetings once again from the world of Tourmaline!

Well, the summer has successfully arrived here in Bayfield. The tourists are strolling the streets, riding in the various boats, taking the Ferry to Madeline Island and swimming in the crisp cool waters of Lake Superior.  All of this is going on while I sit here typing. Alas, marketing must happen no matter what the weather brings.

Last time we left off with a few questions: What is your main goal? What is your mission? Why do you want customers to buy from you over others? I hope you took a little time to think of some solid answers to these questions. Having a mission statement is vital for every business. If you haven’t taken the time to create your mission, please do.

Why?

This gives you something to always come back to if you’re questioning a business decision. For example, my family’s bed and breakfast runs a very sustainable business. Every decision we make, we ask ourselves how this will impact how we run our business or how it might impact the environment or the sustainability of our business. We had the idea of providing breakfast to go for our guests this summer if they wanted to start their day a bit earlier or get out more quickly. After many discussions, we went back to our business’ mission statement. In the end due to the additional waste we would be creating we decided not to provide this service. While it might be a nice service, it is not what we are about.

Okay, so now that you know what your mission is, what’s next?

It’s time to set a few realistic and achievable goals for yourself and your business. Here’s a very simple list of things you can do for your business that will cost you no money at all:

1. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.
2. Create and maintain a blog for your business.
3. Think of businesses that you can create partnerships with to increase the visibility of your business.
4. Create a simple flyer to post around your community sharing your business with potential customers.
5. Talk to other businesses in your area to see if they’ll include a link to your website on their website (you can do the same for them as well!).
6. Make contact with your local papers to see if they’d be interested in doing a business feature on your business.
7. Start collecting emails from your customers, friends and potential customers so that in the long run you can begin an emailing marketing campaign.

 

Fair warning however; when it comes to things like Facebook, blogging and other social media tools don’t do it unless you are committed to it. There are so many businesses out there that have a blog, but their most recent entry is from six months to a year ago. This would make me wonder if they are still in business or not.

Finally, once you have decided what you are going to do, schedule it out so that you can achieve the goals you have set. Remember your mission. What is your main goal? Are you portraying this message through all of your marketing efforts? Maintain consistency in all you do.

Next time… let’s get into the nitty-gritty of it all!

SEO handholding!

I have been doing SEO consulting for some small business owners for the past year or so, and I've decided to offer some help to anyone else who would like it!  I have a very very basic package that simply optimizes your blog/ web site title & description.  If you don't need site submission or blog post titles written - than this is for you!  Until 7/20/10, its $74.99 - after that is goes back up to $124.99. For $74.99 you get an optimized blog title, website title, and descriptions for each, based on the areas you would like to target for you business.  Send me a message at hannah at stonehousephoto.com for more info, or leave a comment.

No, really, it actually makes you poorer...

Sitting and thinking (ok - obsessing) over ways to make money/beat your competition/ {insert obsession here} actually makes you poorer...

Pick an idea from your list of "lightbulb" ideas and move on it. That's the only way its going to get you any monetary gain, and its not going to be right away.  The sooner you start, the sooner you will be closer to your goal!

Stop thinking, DO!

Simple, right?!

Yes YOU can

This is for all the people who seem to be having particularly bad days lately, at least according to their facebook status updates :) :

Who am I?  I am the little voice in your head that says - "I can do this".  I am positive you can.  We ALL can, but only if we put ourselves out there and really really believe in ourselves.  Turn to me when you need someone to tell you "YES! It's posssible"  Some of us have spouses/family/ significant others who hold us up and tell us we can do it.  Some of us don't have that person or persons.  I am here to be that person if need me to be.  I don't know you, so I don't have a preconceived notion of what you can or can't do.  I don't know your past, and I don't know your future.  What I DO know, though, is that all of us have a future of success inside of us and the power within us to live the life we dream of.  We just need to tap into that power and REMEMBER that we have it.  I can be your reminder - just tune into my some-what regularly scheduled programming of You-Can-Do-It.

How to take a compliment nicely

People are much more quick to say something negative to their friends about their business than they are to take the time and effort to say something positive to you. When someone does take the time to say something nice about your business, use it to your full advantage!  Post it on your blog, on facebook, on twitter, and always say thank you to them when you repost it!  It will get you a long way and people love being acknowledged, even if they don't say it!  Always follow up with a handwritten thank you to them as well.  No one does them anymore, so it will get you even farther...  :)  Etsy has some fabulous handcrafted thank you cards.