How Can We Help You Get More Sales Leads? is a post from: Dumfries Business SEO Coach

How to use the FB App URL Generator

The Problem:

Recent changes by Facebook make it harder to add a page from your website to your Facebook Business Page - e.g. "Welcome" Page

This is done by creating an App to display your webpage on your Facebook Page as a "Tab".

However, Facebook has removed the App Profile page which enabled selection of which page you wanted the App to display on. Instead, you have to edit this code:

http://www.facebook.com/dialog/pagetab?app_id=YOUR_APP_ID&next=YOUR_URL

This form makes it easy again -  you enter you App id and Tab URL in the above form, and the generator provides the App URL. You then go to Facebook where you can now add the App to your selected Facebook Page.

Step by Step Usage:

• Enter App ID - for the App created to display the external webpage
• Enter Tab URL - url of external webpage to be added to your FB page
• Click "Send"
• Click "Go to Facebook" - Opens the "Add Page Tab" drop down in Facebook
• Select Page
• Click "Add Page Tab"

Facebook App URL Generator is a post from: Dumfries Business SEO Coach

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The chart below shows that email marketing is most effective:

• in the Business to Consumer channel

...for these marketing objectives:

• increasing website traffic
• increasing sales revenue
• improving customer retention

Marketing Sherpa's survey of more than 1,100 marketers identified the effectiveness of email in achieving marketing and sales pipeline objectives such as building brand awareness, increasing website traffic, increasing lead generation, supporting off-line marketing programmes, increasing sales revenue, and improving customer retention.

Marketing Objectives – How Effective is Email? is a post from: Dumfries Business SEO Coach

We use Aweber as our email marketing platform.

Here is what Aweber provides to maximise the number of your emails that are read:

1. Highest email delivery rates
Aweber is recognised by ISPs worldwide as a professional and standards compliant bulk email manager. This, combined with the items below properly implemented, means your message won't get blocked at the ISP level.

2. Email Confirmation Requirement

When someone opts in to an email list by filling in a form on a website, Aweber's standard setting is to send an email requesting confirmation of the opt in request. This is fully compliant with email best practice, and does two things:

• checks the accuracy of the email address entered
• checks that the email address owner really has requested the opt-in

It does have the down-side of add yet another "hurdle" for the subscriber to jump over before receiving the information requested.

When an existing email list is imported to Aweber (instead of people opting in via a sign up form), the first thing Aweber does is to send an email to all imported addresses asking for confirmation that they agree to be included in the list - just as it would if they had opted in "normally".

Without this step, spammers could (and do) bombard recipients with unwanted emails, and you'd leave yourself wide open to spam complaints. (Even when people do opt-in, they forget, and may complain later.)

3. Unsubscribe Link Provided
Every message sent by Aweber includes an unsubscribe link - so the recipient can opt out whenever they want.

4. Spam Risk Assessment
Once your message is entered in Aweber, it runs a spam risk assessment. This warns you of anything in your message subject or content which could be likely to trigger spam filters. You can then edit your message to eliminate the triggers and replace them with alternative words.

5. Bounces Monitored
People change their email addresses, so if you have addresses no longer valid, or where an email box is "full" Aweber flogs this as a "bounce".
This allows you to "clean" your list - by either removing, or updating (if you can) the email record.

6. Complaints Monitored
Compliance with email standards requires that recipients can complain to the service provider if they believe abuse of their email address has occurred. Aweber tracks any complaints from your recipients.

7. Opens Monitored
Aweber tracks how many of your messages were opened by recipients - this is the key result - getting your email read.

8. Clicks Monitored
If you have clickable links in your message, Aweber will track how many people clicked the link
Aweber can also track online sales resulting from your email campaign.

9. Split Testing of Messages
Aweber allows you to split test your messages on lists of over 100 recipients.

The 1st thing to test is always the Subject - since this is a major factor determining the open rate for each message
(other factors affecting open rate are - who the message is from, and when they last received a message from you, and the time of arrival of the message)

This is very important.

Slip Test Example:

I recently sent a message to a small list of just over 400 subscribers.
I used a split test with 2 Subjects, just varying the first few words of the subject: (everything else identical in Subject and body of message)

Subject A: I'll send you a ....
Subject B: Look out for your ....

The open rate for Subject A was 140% higher than for subject B

Email Open Rates – How to Maximise? is a post from: Dumfries Business SEO Coach

The role of the "Search Optimist" is to improve the likelihood that her optimism will be rewarded!

Ever Met a Search Optimist? is a post from: Dumfries Business SEO Coach

Technology is transforming the way business is done, especially in the arena of small business. As a small business, you have a unique advantage to your larger competitors in that your cost for adoption of new technology is minimal, and the difference the technology can make is invaluable. Aside from being able to connect and communicate with a local consumer more easily and more efficiently than before, technology can also enable you to expand your business’s horizons – what started as a local “Main Street” type business can expand into a regional, or even international, player.

So, how does this happen? It is easier than you may think. Most obviously, technology enables you to conduct business via the Internet. Whether you provide a product or a service, you can reach new consumers, check existing consumers, and obtain valuable market research inexpensively and with little upfront costs. The issue of local, regional, or national boundaries is essentially dissolved. In addition, technology also enables you to expand your operations through its role in communications. You can message, IM, video conference, telephone, or interact on one of the many networking sites (both social and private). Lastly, technology has also opened shipping networks, so that it is possible for you to send a package, be it of a product, a signed contract, or a hardcopy of a service provided (e.g. engineering plans, business plan, photographs), to anywhere in the world, in as little as a few days, if you are willing to pay the extra costs.

However, this is considering technology at its broadest level. If you are like many business owners and managers, you may know that such technology exists, but have little conception as to how to adopt it. The truth is that any modern technology is easy to adopt – they have designed it to be so – you only need to know where to start.

The following is a list of new technologies and ways that small businesses can use them to advantage:
Social Media: Social media (sites like Facebook and Twitter) add another dimension to your business operations. You are able to connect with current and potential customers in a whole new way. Not only are you able to provide information on your product or services and relay the news of your company, but you are also able to inquire as to what features or elements they prefer in your product/service offering, improvements they would like to see, etc. Further, you can run promotions in this way as well. The best part about social media however is that it is free to use and, unlike starting a blog without a unique domain name, you may actual gain esteem in the minds of many consumers for the fact of your adoption of the new technology.

Conferencing:

Instead of traveling hundreds, or even thousands, of miles to hold a meeting, you can stay on top of client relationships, project management, and interact with suppliers or distributors via video on your computer. Some technologies will even allow you to interface over a document – each able to read and manipulate the document. Again, the cost is minimal. After all, you don’t necessarily need a huge network like Cisco. As a small business, you can get all the features you need for free through Skype or even just using the video conferencing software already built into many messaging and operating systems, such as iChat on Apple devices.

Networking Sites:

Through free technologies, such as Ning.com, you are able to build your own social networking site. Use this technology to provide a platform for interfacing over a project, for internal communication within your company (particularly useful if you have employees in various locations, working various shifts, or if employees need to upload large documents), or providing a valuable communication point for highly integrated clients, suppliers, distributors, or subsidiaries. There are also many low-cist sites, such as Basecamp, that can provide similar advantages.

Communication:

Lastly, consider communication. If your employees are wide spread, work autonomously, or travel frequently, you may want to consider providing them with smartphones. Smartphones can allow you to tether (meaning to use your phone’s wireless connection to get “online” with your laptop), access email on the go (and respond professionally), open documents, search contacts, etc. Whereas a larger corporation may only be able to afford to do this for select employees, as a small business you would be able to provide smartphones to everyone for minimal cost, a large part of which would be tax deductible.

From Local Business to Regional Presence: is a post from: Dumfries Business SEO Coach