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Does it Matter Where You’re Making Noise?

July 9, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer Leave a Comment

You’ve got two basic choices in promoting your business:
1. You can stand right there where you’re at, making noise and trying to get people to come to you.
2. You can figure out where the people are, go to them, and then make noise.

Now, of course, what kind of noise you make matters (are you just yelling about yourself or demonstrating how you can help by sharing smart resources like your newsletter, case studies, blog, articles, videos and more).

But which choice do you think would make it easier to connect with the perfect customers or clients?  #2!

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Filed Under: Blogging, Business Online, Online Marketing, Social Networking, Website Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Adventures in Audio Blogging

July 8, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer 4 Comments

So, I decided this week to try doing audio versions of my blog.  I’ve done one.  You can listen in here: http://thesmallbusinessmuse.com/have-a-little-faith-in-yourself/2010/07/06

More are coming soon!

I’ve been having fun playing with two of the options, CinchCast and AudioBoo, and thought I’d share some info about each.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Business Online Tagged With: , , , , , ,

10 More Things You Can Do in 10 Minutes Each to Move Your Business Forward

July 5, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer 12 Comments

My first post on this topic was pretty popular so I thought I’d give it a second round. Marketing can feel like this huge overwhelming thunderstorm that hangs over our heads when we’re running our own businesses. As if we’ve got TIME to deal with ONE MORE THING! But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Believe me, I understand! If I had to write a 50 page marketing plan and spend 4 hours a day implementing it… well, either it’d never happen… or I’d never get anything else done and never have time to complete the services I need to for my clients and create the products I offer. Or, I’d never get to play with my kiddos and my house would look like a hurricane hit it. There just aren’t that many hours in the day. If I wanted that much stress I wouldn’t be working from home with my own business. Always remember the reason you started your business – I’m pretty sure that “So I can go legally insane and end up in therapy!” wasn’t on your top ten list of reasons, right? Yeah, it wasn’t on mine either.

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Filed Under: Business Online, Marketing, Newsletters & Email, Online Marketing, Social Networking, Time Management Tagged With: , , ,

Have You Heard of Fiverr.com Yet?

July 1, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer 1 Comment

I hadn’t heard of Fiverr.com until about a week ago when Traci Hayner Vanover introduced me to with her new ebook, Five Dollar Fortunes: Successfully Sell on Fiverr.com.

Like most of us who run small businesses online, I hear about a lot of new sites and ways to make money online but this one caught my interest and definitely has possibilities!

Let’s start with Fiverr.com.  It’s a site a little bit like eBay, only everything on it is $5.  That’s it.  $5.  Nothing higher.  Nothing Lower.  Sounds a little crazy, right?  You can purchase goods or services from sellers and then rate them after they deliver.  Like any site I found a few weird things (offers to leave odd voice mail for you), some downright strange listings (why would I pay $5 for a video of someone drunk?), a couple of questionable services ($5 could get me fake positive feedback–I’ll skip that one, thanks!) , but also a lot of interesting deals and introductory services from businesses and professionals.  It’s one of those sites where just browsing can have you laughing out loud.

So, silliness aside, is it any good for small businesses?  With Traci’s guide, definitely! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Online, Cool Tools Tagged With: , , ,

10 Things You Can Do in 10 Minutes Each to Move Your Business Forward

June 26, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer 44 Comments

I’m writing this from the airport at 7:03pm.  My goal is to be done at 7:13pm and schedule this post.  I’ve got 30 minutes until my plane boards and I can complete three small tasks to move my business forward.  Here are some ideas:

1. Write a quick blog post and promote it.

Jot down some random thoughts about something helpful for your readers.  Try a top ten list (like this one!) or top 5 list.  You can polish it later and use it as an article, in your newsletter, for a podcast, in a video, etc.  Take time to tweet your post and add it to your Facebook status.  If you’re using Networked Blogs, it will tweet/update for you.

If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of posting in 10 minutes, check out Michele Scism’s 10 minute blog post ideas: part one and part two.

2. Write a few thank you cards or emails.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Business Online, Cool Tools, Customer Service, Newsletters & Email, Online Marketing, Social Networking, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

What to Do When Someone Steals Your Content

June 17, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer 21 Comments

You’ve worked hard on your blog posts, articles, sales pages and other writing, as well as your graphics design, website design, and logo.  They’re yours.  But online many people think it’s “fair game” to borrow and profit from your work. It’s not okay unless you’ve given your permission.

I saw a video online last week from EzineArticles.com I wanted to share:


Now, here are some tips to help you protect your intellectual property (since you can’t slap people through the internet…).

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Filed Under: Business Online, Ethics & Green Business Tagged With: , , , , ,

Tools to Make Social Networking Easier

May 27, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer Leave a Comment

Do you love networking and connecting with people through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites but find that it ends up taking far too much time out of your busy day? Do you wish there were a way you could update all your profiles at once, automatically share your blog content, and make it easier for others to share your website on the social networks? Good news–you can!

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Filed Under: Business Online, Cool Tools, Online Marketing, Social Networking, Time Management, Website Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mini Makeover Tips: 9 More Actions You Can Take to Increase Your Website’s Credibility

May 26, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer Leave a Comment

This post is part 2, continuing from yesterday’s 10 Actions You Can Take to Increase Your Website Credibility.

Is your website building your credibility?  Or scaring away clients?  Here are 9 more easy actions you can take to boost your website’s credibility and help your website visitors feel comfortable purchasing from or working with you.

Give visitors a way to share your website/blog/articles. When a potential client arrives to your website based on a referral from a trusted source, they’re more likely to sign up for your newsletter or purchase your products/services.  AddtoAny works with any website and is easy to install.  If you’re using WordPress try the Sociable or SexyBookmarks plugins. (This site has the SexyBookmarks plugin active and you can see it at the bottom of this page.)

Answer the “Frequently Asked Questions.” Create or update your Frequently Asked Questions page to help answer more of the questions customers can (or should!) be asking you.

Share generously. Offer free articles, checklists, videos and other resources that showcase your expertise in creating your product or delivering your service.

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Filed Under: Business Online, Cool Tools, Customer Service, Website Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

Mini Makeover Tips: 10 Actions You Can Take to Boost Your Website’s Credibility

May 25, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer 2 Comments

Is your website building your credibility?  Or scaring away clients?  Here are 10 easy actions you can take to boost your website’s credibility and help those visitor feel comfortable purchasing from or working with you.

Add your complete contact information to every page. The footer is a good place for this.  Visitors will feel more comfortable when they know they can get in touch with you if anything goes wrong with their purchase.

Be Accessible. Give visitors multiple ways to contact you including snail mail, email (or a web form), telephone, and/or social networks.  This is especially credibility-building if visitors can visit your social network links, such as a Facebook fan page, and see that you are actively interacting with and responding to your fans and clients.

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Filed Under: Business Online, Customer Service, Website Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

How to Survey Your Customers

April 26, 2010 By Michelle Shaeffer 2 Comments

One of the keys to success in business is to know what your customers want, so you can deliver it.  But unless you’ve perfected your Vulcan mind meld skills, the chances are good you could use a bit of help figuring out just what it is that your customers want. What’s the easiest way to do that?  Ask them!

How to Survey Your Customers, Step by Step

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Filed Under: Business Online, Customer Service, ECommerce, Marketing, Online Marketing, Website Tips
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