Five Essential Ways to Drive Traffic to your Website

One of the best ways to promote any business is through a company website. This allows you to reach potentially millions of customers with your products and messaging but you have to find a way to get more people to your website if you want to compete with business rivals. To ensure that your customers come back to your website on a regular basis you need to implement effective ways of bringing them back. 

Here are 5 essential ways that you can build and keep healthy web traffic.

Updates:

Keep your website updated regularly. This way you can ensure that customers who are interested in your business (whether services or products) will be kept afresh of what you are offering. This could include a revamp of the website, a new product, a special promotion, a new service or even the introduction of a new member of your business. 

Newsletters:

Producing a weekly or monthly newsletter is a great way to keep your customers updated with the latest news, services and products. To ensure that new clients sign up to your newsletter, ensure that you do a special promotion of a product or a service that is only accessible through the newsletter. 

Website Appearance:

Looks are important so make sure you have an appealing website. Having a website that looks good and is easily navigated will ensure that people have a positive experience and want to return again and again. Ensure that all content on your website is accurate and easily readable – if the content is not relevant, complicated or does not have any value for your visitors they will not be encouraged to come back.

Marketing & PR:

Active marketing and PR is extremely important in any business; if you don’t market your business, then people will not know that you exist. There are many ways in which you can market your website – contribute to social networking sites relevant for your business, comment on blogs,  Don’t deliberately advertise your services or products in there because you will annoy everyone and get your account blocked. Use your website as your signature and make genuine replies. In addition, ensure that you list your website on all the free business directories on the web. 

Company Blog:

Creating a blog for your business can help you reach target audiences globally. It also contributes to making your website more dynamic and search engine friendly. Make your blog interesting and content rich to ensure that people are engaged in reading, and help pull and attract traffic to your site. A blog is a great way of keeping your current and potential clients up to date and connected with your business. Types of content that can create engagement on your blog include: helpful articles, infographics, video clips, images, new product releases.  

Movers and Shakers: Why Companies Seek Influencers

A lot of companies seek out, follow and engage influencers. If you have a powerful network with a lot of friends and contacts, that is worth something. However, it’s not all just who you know that matters, it’s also what you can bring to the table. What you know matters, too.

Knowing that the influencers can make or break a business based on favorable or unfavorable reviews, comments made, or through biased spotlights on products and services, some of the biggest companies in the world are now seeking and using social influencers to help them promote.  For example, Disney often runs promotions to give influencers tickets and merchandise for new movie releases. American Express offers gift cards. Chevy handed a few lucky influencers the keys to a brand new Sonic for a three-day weekend.

Having Clout Equals Success

Why would they do this?  Feedback, of course. Word of mouth referrals have long been the key to successful enterprises, even before the rush of social media became a big hit. From solo-preneurs to mom-and-pop businesses; to giant Fortune 500 companies, any smart business principal understands the value of good ‘old fashioned word-of-mouth recommendations. Count that on a widespread basis and before you know it, everyone who is anyone has heard about your product, service or invention.  As a recent example, the “50 Shades of Gray” book was a recent phenomenon that began by a few happy readers who loved it and told others. Now it is a blockbuster movie, all started by a “buzz” of some avid readers.

Some influencers get formal invitations as “brand ambassadors” and get invited to special events. If rubbing elbows with band members, models or actors and getting VIP passes sounds like a cool gig, well… becoming an influencer is one way to do it.  Would you like it if a big brand or ad agency courted your attention just for having a ton of friends, fans and followers on your multiple social platforms?  Of course. Who wouldn’t?

How to Gain Online Social Popularity

Bearing this in mind, anyone can become "influential" in certain niches. There are communities for every type of interest, hobby, activity, personality.  Examples such as tech communities, video gaming, reading/writing, cooking, crafting, etc. enable you to be part of the popular “in crowd” with those things you most enjoy, while also boosting your reputation as a person to know on that topic. Companies target people like you to help promote their products and services. Being known as an expert can also give you leverage in the job market within your chosen field.

This can also be done by helping them through reviews and advertising on your blog. If you have a popular blog with a lot of followers, the big companies will begin to notice. You’ll get subscribers from media (TV, magazine publishers, etc.) and more and more offers will pour in.  It does take some effort. You have to blog about topics that people are interested in, while devoting your time to develop a niche. If you just write about a bunch of random stuff, it may not generate the results you seek.

With this in mind, you can move forward with more caution in what you choose to share or not share with your social circles. Leverage your influence by keeping the posts relevant, short, and related to your goals. Don’t promote capricious products you’re not familiar with because if they fail, this can decrease your credibility. Most importantly, keep your communications positive in their message and shy away from foul language, obscene cartoons, or anything offensive that could come back to haunt you later on.

Mobile Marketing – Why Small Businesses Need a Good Strategy in Place

Mobile devices – such as phones, tablets and Smartphones – have overtaken desktops as the best tools for accessing the Internet as well as all other web-related services. Mobile devices have also emerged as the best platforms through which a small business can deploy all its marketing tactics. In fact, mobile devices have emerged as the tools of choice for customers to read web content, check emails, and shop online.

Reports indicate that 9 out of every 10 Americans possess a cellphone. More than half of the cellphones in the hands of Americans are smartphones. Consequently, it is safe to say that the world is in the smartphone era, thus one more reason for embarking on mobile marketing. If you are going to use this form of marketing to benefit your small business, a focused mobile strategy needs to be in place covering the following considerations:

• Development of a mobile app and/or mobile responsive website 
• Investment in user specific messages and content as well as notifications
• Social media assets and integration
• A loyalty program that offers customers rewards and perks

Loyalty programs will entice existing customers to continue buying from a business. Loyalty programs are also attractive to new customers who desire to know the benefits they stand to obtain by choosing to purchase their preferred products and services from a specific business.

Cost-Effective 

All forms of marketing must have a high impact. Fortunately, mobile marketing does just that. More importantly, small businesses care about the impact of any marketing promotion on their finances. In this regard, the cost-effective nature of marketing via mobile devices is the best way through which small businesses can achieve their desired goals. Marketing via mobile devices is more affordable to small businesses.

The initial investment that the small business owners make regarding the resources and time required to develop the technology is what requires the most cost outlay. Once up and running, mobile marketing programs provide cost-efficiencies against traditional media expense requirements such as postage, printing and air time.

The cost effectiveness of mobile marketing to any local or small business is also demonstrated by the fact that the cost of developing and delivering it continues to decrease with time. The more the volume increases, the lower the costs of developing and delivering the marketing campaign grows. For a startup, this is great news considering that it needs to save a huge chunk of its finances/capital to build its profitability.

Immediate Results

The best news with mobile marketing is that the content gets to the customers immediately. Moreover, it provides two-way engagement. What this means is that customers are free to respond to the marketing message that they receive. This assists to create the environment for interactivity and direct engagement to thrive between a small business and its customers. There are no intermediaries to create complexities or distraction between the business or customers. The message gets to the customers in its purest form. Similarly, the response by customers gets to the business in it’s purest form.

Faster Response Rates

The fact that customers walk around with their mobile devices means that they will respond faster to any marketing message that a small business sends to them. Moreover, a small business can have real time access to tracking results including downloads, page visits and customer opt-ins. This information is important for a small business to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile strategies as well as be able to adjust and optimize plans accordingly.

Lead Generation: Is It a Matter of Quantity or Quality?

When it comes to lead generation for your business, you have two options: focus on getting numerous new leads or get only the best, high quality leads. Simply put, you either go for quantity or quality. But which is the right way to go when you are looking to advance online marketing? There are certain factors that come into play and are mostly based on your goals of the campaign, the product/service as well as the time and resources that you have to support your lead generation efforts. Here's a quick snapshot of what to consider for the success of your business.

Quantity vs Quality

Some companies believe that quality is better than quantity when it comes to lead generation. Others go for quantity, saying that it results in higher return of investment. What’s your goal for the lead generation? This should be the first question you should ask yourself. If your main effort is brand awareness, reaching or sharing, or selling products with low-touch model at discounted prices, your focus should be on generating as many leads as possible. Whether you seek to get more Twitter followers, blog subscribers, or webinar participants; driving high volume leads is the focus.

On the other hand, if your goal is reaching specific, niche buyers, or if you seek to sell higher priced products with a long sales cycle, your focus should be prioritizing or getting high quality leads into your funnel. You can achieve this with more specific tracking/intelligence, targeting, and of course a good process. This gives you an opportunity to put more focus on the best leads that give you better chances of converting into sales. When you choose to go quality over quantity, you avoid time and energy spent to reach people who have a low likelihood of converting.

Best of both worlds

Yes, you want to have more lead generation by casting your net more. But then you need quality leads that you can easily convert into sales. In this case, and where all factors come into play, your company may do well utilizing both quality and quantity lead generation. Think of it this way: your company decides to consider both programs, with one focusing on quantity and the other quality. The first one generates more leads in a short span of time, but you get more sales rejection percentage and low conversion rate overall. Now, quality strategy will come into play, generating smaller, yet good leads that have higher conversion rates.

Both quantity and quality lead generation programs can work depending on your goals. Marketing experts usually support quality lead generation plans. This is because they provide a higher conversion rate and sales. You will save time from managing a lot of leads that are unqualified. The process of generating these leads may involve more time and effort to focus targeting, evaluate metrics, qualify and nurture inquires. However, you'll start to benefit from increased revenue growth for your  business.

The Argument for IT Outsourcing for Your Small Business

Using IT outsourcing for your human resources department will take your business to new levels. While the HR department is valuable for their human component, you can let technology do some of the work for you and save both manpower and time. What are some ways the HR department can utilize the power of technology? One way is through crowd-sourcing.

Crowd-sourcing is offering jobs to people via job boards or other portal sites and hiring out specific tasks to be done by independent contractors or workers. So how can you harness the power of technology to work for you as a HR department? Here are a few tips.

1. Use talent management software. Using software to pool your resources to find the best workers is an ideal way to maximize your ROI and find the best people for the jobs. It matches personality traits, employment history, and even background checks, to make sure the people you are getting are trustworthy.
2. Keep records of current and past employees in a computer database. By keeping a database of employees, you can pull up records anytime they are needed, or to call back former employees when you need more manpower.
3. Post projects and jobs on job boards. Job boards are a great technology you can use to connect your needs with potential workers. Many are based on a bidding system, so you get to decide how much you are willing to pay as well.
4. Network with crowdsourcing companies. Crowd-sourcing sites assemble hundreds of qualified workers together to browse through jobs they are qualified to do and you get to select which ones will be able to do the job you need. 
5. Use technology to do digital interviewing, communicate with and receive completed jobs from independent, outsourced workers. The use of tools such as "Google hangout," online chat, Facebook, and others provides a way to do "live" face-to-face meetings and collaborate with people from around the globe with no airplane fare, and immediate connections.

How To Utilize The IT Talent Pool

There are many ways today that IT outsourcing used including organization of your human resources department. But the potential is only beginning to emerge regarding crowd-sourcing. With more and more employers opting to hire only the best workers for specific tasks, and hiring out smaller jobs to independent workers, they are learning to maximize their investment by paying for only the work that is done, rather than paying full-time employees for down time.

In addition, they tend to get workers who are the most specialized in their category, and are likely to get the job done the quickest in general, since they are only paid upon completion of the task. This saves thousands of dollars in employee pay per year, and this is a growing trend among corporations and big business today. Utilizing outsourced workers often gets you the best talent and the best rates and you are only paying for the time they actually worked, rather than all of that down time you pay for among your employee pool. Plus, there are no worries about employment insurance or taxes. Outsourced IT people work for themselves and they are responsible for paying and keeping up with their own income and taxes.  So it puts the paperwork in their hands, not yours.

And IT is not the only category you should consider outsourcing. Many more companies are turning to independent contractors for virtual assistance jobs, administrative tasks, and other jobs. It's becoming more and more the smart business option for entrepreneurs.

How To Increase Downloads For Mobile Apps

If you've developed a brand new mobile phone application, worked out all the usability kinks and ported it to Android or Apple iOS, without a doubt you should feel accomplished. Unfortunately, regardless of the lack of competition in your particular niche, how well-developed your program is or how well it works on whatever devices has no bearing on how well the app itself will be received in the marketplace.

Here are a few ways you can actively generate interest in your mobile application and subsequently increase downloads.

It's All In The Description

Your app's description should clearly, comprehensively and succinctly make the case to users that they will find the app useful and beneficial to their lives. Use plenty of search-optimized keywords that are relevant to what your app does, but be careful about having too many. As the keywords field in iTunes Connect is limited to 100 characters, maximize this opportunity by choosing the most recognizable keywords and separating multiple tags with commas. However, be careful about utilizing keywords that are overused or generalized. The consequence of this is that when very general keywords are typed into the search engine, numerous results are generated and this may make it challenging for users to find your app in the marketplace.

Seek Opportunities In Foreign Markets

It certainly does not hurt to have your app available for download outside the United States. That being said, this will require that the written content within your app and its description should be competently translated into the same languages that are spoken by the clients you want to reach. As a precaution, have your description translated ahead of time into such commonly used languages as French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean. The browser version of Google Translate is mostly accurate, but for sake of clarity, it is an exceptionally good idea to double-check your work. If necessary, seek the assistance of a native speaker of the desired language to ensure accuracy.

Make A Video

As communications technology has become more widespread and sophisticated, YouTube has become a popular outlet for people promoting their various products and services, as it appeals in particular to individuals who characterize themselves as "visual people," meaning that their capacity for taking in and retaining information is relative to what they can see. As such, making a descriptive instructional video is an absolute must, as it will serve as a teaching tool and help generate interest in your product. With that in mind, you would do well to hire a professional video crew, complete with voiceover talent to make a video that will get people excited about your app. It also is necessary to include subtitles for local languages, as this will reach clientele in foreign markets.

Get The Word Out By Any Means Necessary

Not all mobile app developers have the luxury of investor backed media budgets for large scale advertising and promotional campaigns. Fortunately, there are numerous free cloud-based resources to bring exposure to your app, such as online classified ads and link exchange programs. There are also services that handle press release distribution, such as PRWeb and MarketWired. Some of these particular types of outfits offer their services for free or for a reasonable price. The important thing is to make sure that you shop around and find services that can bring exposure to your app within your realistic budget allocation.

Social media can not be ignored for drawing attention to brand new apps. Look to use the social channels that target the right audience to promote your app. Importantly, don't be shy to ask your friends and relatives to spread the word about your app with their friends on social media.

Show Photos of Your App in Action

Using clear, crisp, high-resolution screenshots of real people using your app on a device such as a smartphone, laptop or tablet will make an impression on users as it will show your product in action. Make sure the app can clearly be seen on the device, and have anywhere from three to six screenshots, each one containing a different instance of the app.

Use A Cover Image For Google Play

If you are offering your app through GooglePlay, a unique, eye-catching cover image will draw attention, generate interest and increase downloads. Try to avoid using screenshots, but if you must, make sure that they are proportionally sized in the interest of giving your users the notion that you are a well-respected professional with a popular new product that deserves respect.


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How RFID Technology is Elevating Business Asset Tracking and Management

Radio Frequency Identification technology, commonly known as RFID, has started to scale into the operational systems of a wide variety of companies that have a need to accurately track multiple assets in large volumes.

The real-time information that is capable through this wireless technology can help companies reduce costs, enhance manpower time and efficiency, increase accuracy, and improve overall production performance.

The technology is enabled using RFID tags (attached to inventory or equipment) and an RFID reader, which receives and broadcasts information. These RFID readers have the ability to scan multiple tags at the same time, assuring fast and accurate inventory auditing and management as the errors and mistakes of manual inventory keeping are immediately eliminated.

One of my roles as Chief Operations Officer for Kinetic RFID, an innovative provider of asset tracking technology to the hospitality industry, has given me first hand experience to how RFID technology can impact operations processes, and a company’s bottom-line.

Let’s look at hotels and the hospitality industry. One of the largest expenses within these venues is the cost of towels, sheets and related linens. The ability to manage linen loss as it circulates around the hotel, leaves the property for laundry servicing and returns presents a huge challenge. Linen losses and depletion in inventory negatively impacts budgets and revenue, and can also disrupt the customer experience through inefficient allocation of items. By automating the process with the placement of an RFID chip on every towel and piece of linen, manual errors are eliminated and linen inventory can quickly and precisely be tracked and audited in real-time throughout the hotel.

When the tracking of assets is automated with RFID technology, a hotel or any business immediately benefits from access to the live information about the location and movement of each and every asset. Instant audits will show managers exactly where an item is at any given time, which also helps reduce loss through theft. It also guarantees accurate distribution of each item to its proper place.

The level of accuracy that RFID is bringing into company asset management is immediate and indisputable: optimization of operational systems and ROI through stabilizing losses and large-scale replacement costs.

You can get more information on RFID technology and processes at KineticRFID.com