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10 Tips to Improve Your SEO results

June 15, 2012

Drew’s note: Here’s a guest post by Brad Shorr on a topic everyone wants to know more about — how to improve SEO.

Don’t be daunted by the complexity of SEO – especially now. Google has introduced a ton of changes to their ranking formula recently, most of which penalize complicated, manipulative SEO tactics. As a result, SEO has become simpler. Today the keys are:

• Having a clean site that communicates well with Google
• Creating great content that naturally attracts backlinks

Here are 10 crucial items for a 2012 SEO tune-up. The first five are onsite SEO activities, and the next five are offsite activities.

1. Update keyword research. Popular search terms change. Your business model may have changed as well. If you’re ranking well for keywords that have lost strategic value, all you’re doing is attracting visits from the wrong prospects.
2. Update title tags and content. Once your keywords are updated, put them in meta title tags and on-page content. Don’t just cram the keywords in: if necessary, rewrite pages to make the new keywords completely relevant.
3. Add new pages for additional keyword terms. Google loves fresh content. Add pages or blog posts steadily over time, using less popular (“long tail”) terms with strategic value.
4. Run an SEO diagnostic. Google’s Webmaster Tools is a great, free online resource that itemizes your site’s SEO issues making cleanup easy for you or your developer.
5. Set up a good internal linking system. The pages you link to most often on your site are the ones Google thinks are most important. We often recommend displaying links to your top lead-generating pages in the footer of the site, using keywords in the anchor text of the links.
6. Update good backlinks. Let’s move to offsite SEO issues. If you know of links coming into your site from popular sites/blogs, check the anchor text on those links. Ideally, anchor text should include keywords. If not, ask if they can change it.
7. Remove bad backlinks. If you know of links coming into your site from content farms, ad sites, and other sources with bad online reputations, remove them. These links could lower your rankings.
8. Do guest posts. A great way to create valuable backlinks is to write useful content on high quality blogs. Guest posts normally include a link(s) back to the writer’s site.
9. Update directory listings. Many people list their site in directories when it launches and never look back. Make sure those directory listings are up-to-date in terms of keywords and pages you’re linking to.
10. Update social media profiles. Along the same lines, keep keywords and links current for your profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter – and Google+ if you’re there. People tend to forget about their profiles on peripheral social sites such as Twellow and FriendFeed, so keep those on your SEO radar as well.

Brad Shorr is Director of Content & Social Media for Straight North, a Chicago marketing firm. They work with B2B clients in specialized niches, such as knife safety gloves and high visibility clothing. Brad writes frequently on SEO and its relationship to social media and content strategy.

My reading secrets

June 11, 2012

Many of you write to ask how in the heck can I read as much as I do. I am admittedly a voracious reader — consuming two or three books a week.

I’m now going to reveal my reading secrets.

I know it matters: I’ve always believed that people who read were more successful. It didn’t matter how they ingesting the information (audio, electronic book, old fashioned book, etc.) In fact, Forbes recently asked if you read fast enough to be successful. So from the time I was a kid, being the Type A that I am… I wanted to be successful, so I read.

I always have 2-4 books going at once: I am not a linear reader (except for a couple fictional authors that I have to read cover to cover on the day the book is released) so I have a few books going at once. I might have a couple books on my iPad‘s Kindle, an actual book or two laying around and an audio book in my CD player. So, I can allow my mood to dictate what I read.

I mix up the genres: I have a pretty wide range of reading interests. I read lots of business/marketing books, mysteries, books about Disney/Walt Disney, baseball books, biographies and Harry Potters (Yes, I re-read them). That way, it keeps reading fresh and fun.

I love www.ReadItForMe.com*: This service is amazing. They take a book and offer me the following:

An overview of the book (a few paragraphs)
The have a video summary (about 15 minutes) of the book
A PDF overview (usually 25-35 pages) of the book
A workbook that allows me to apply the book’s content (5 or so pages)

Their library is pretty robust, mostly business titles like Ann Handley and CC Chapman‘s Content Rules, but they have some biographies like Steve Jobs and a handful of other titles. They add titles every week.

The pro account runs $29.99/month. If you want to give the pro account a try at a discount, use the coupon code DREW to get 50% off your first month. Right now, they’ll let you try the account for free for 7 days. Even if you only use it for a week, you’ll be glad you tried it.

Plane time is reading time: I fly a lot and I don’t work on planes. I read. It’s much more relaxing and let’s face it, air travel is stressful enough. So why not marry it with a treat? Living in Des Moines means I have at least two legs to get just about anywhere. So I’m flying for 2-5 hours. In that time, because I’m a fast reader, I can knock off two books on average.

There you have it…my reading secrets. But the real secret — I love to read. I love the adventures, the new stuff I learn, the fresh ideas and the incredible art that some people create with words.

*Affiliate link

Photo courtesy of BigStockPhoto.com

Find newsletter content in a flash

June 8, 2012

Drew’s note: Here’s a guest post by Patrick Carver on a relevant topic — how do you create and sustain the creation of an enewsletter.

Don’t you just hate writing newsletters? We all know the feeling. It’s Saturday afternoon and you realize the company newsletter is due to go out on Monday. You can feel the blood start to boil when you remember how long it ACTUALLY takes to write all that content. Don’t you just wish your newsletter would just write itself?

A great option is creating a ‘hybrid’ newsletter using a mix of original and curated content. Curation is a fancy name for finding relevant content (articles, videos, white papers, etc.), qualifying it, and then sharing it with your audience.

Using curated material is a great way to complement your own message and save a lot of time ‘thinking of what to say’. You can use the outside content as a jumping-off point and establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche at the same time.

The first place to look for free content is through one of the these tools. Google Reader let’s you add your favorite websites to a list and then view all their most recent posts in one place. A great way to monitor your sites without having to bounce around. Google Alerts is another free tool that lets you add specific keywords to a list and then will email once a day with relevant links and stories.

There are a handful of social bookmarking sites out there like Delicious, Reddit, and Digg that will help you find material but these aren’t always terribly useful. Without a human curation element, there is way too much automated/aggregated content on there to really find what you’re looking for.

One of the best options for finding free content is using a ‘personal newspaper’ service. The gist is that you add some topics that you’re interested in and then the software produces a personalized digest of the ‘best’ stories on that subject for you. Some of the more popular products are paper.li , scoop.it , and Flipboard but there are lots of these sites out there. AllTop is a great resource that will list all of the relevant blogs on a topic and display their latest 5 posts.

Now you just have to incorporate all that great content with your newsletter template. People often use an email marketing tool like Constant Contact, MailChimp or InfusionSoft for this. But, if you don’t like messing around with templates, you might consider trying FlashIssue (it’s Free).

Newsletters can be a lot of work but it’s definitely worth the effort. Don’t get deterred if your first try doesn’t come out amazing and go viral. Stick with a core theme but experiment as much possible with different story-lines until you find something that really sticks. If you can figure out how to speak to your customers in a way that makes them want to listen, you’re on to something big.

Patrick Carver is the Director of Marketing for FlashIssue, the newsletter solution. You can follow him @FlashIssue or read more of his stuff on the FlashIssue Blog.

Zemanta – A Free Customizable Curation Tool(contentcurationdesktop.com)
Info Curation and Aggregation Services, Tools & Apps(speedofcreativity.org)

How do you create urgency?

June 6, 2012

I’ve been in several conversations with clients and other business owners of late all surrounding the issue of creating urgency in potential buyers.

You’ve probably found yourself in the same situation. You know your product or service has incredible value but no one seems in a big hurry to buy it.

How do you move someone from “that might be nice” to “I need to have it now?” Especially if you don’t consider yourself a sales person.

The canned sales training answer to this question would be to create an artificial incentive or fear that can be relieved by making a purchase. These might include:

Limited quantity — Hurry, because we only have 20 of these left in the warehouse and once they’re gone…. they’re gone!

Limited time — These grand opening prices will never be seen again so get in here before Sunday or say goodbye to these incredible savings!

The bonus — If you buy the cookware set today, you’ll also get the matching knife set and a year’s subscription to Foodies Magazine.

Each of those techniques can and does work. But…you have to be careful. Your customers and prospects are:

Pretty jaded
Pretty smart
Pretty onto the tricks

If the limited quantity, time or bonus items are legit — then give it a whirl. But recognize that your audience is still going to smell promotional trickery, even if it isn’t there. (Remember, pretty jaded).

If people just aren’t buying as quickly — maybe you’re talking about the wrong things. Are you still talking features rather than benefits? Or have you dug deeply enough to get at the real “why they’d buy?”

I think in many cases…we get a little lazy here. We think that people want to come to a home show because they like looking at new ideas for re-decorating their home. But if you dig a little deeper and push through another couple “whys” you might take this path:

I’m thinking about going to the home show because it’s fun to get re-decorating ideas.
I’ve been in my house for 10+ years now and things are feeling boring/stale.
We can’t afford to move to something newer/bigger because we’re upside down on our mortgage.
I feel stuck in our house and it’s making me notice everything that’s wrong, dated and old about it.
By investing in some paint and elbow grease, my old house will feel new again and I’ll fall back in love with living there. I’ll go from feeling like I have no choice to being happier with the choice I do have.

This is a simplistic example…but you can see I drilled down about 4 “why” levels to get to a very human truth. If I were writing ad copy or blog posts about the home show — rather than just pointing out all the booths that were touting re-decorating ideas, I’d focus on the idea that everyone’s home could use a little help here and there…and the result is that you’ll fall back in love with your home.

My point — before you create an urgency gimmick, drill down a few more ‘why” layers and see if you can find a human truth that will serve as a much better urgency creator.

Photo courtesy of www.BigStockPhoto.com

Oops — can’t say THAT in an email! (stupid SPAM filters)

June 3, 2012

I’m working on our weekly e-newsletter (always different content than here at the blog — gotta keep it fresh!) and I’m writing about email marketing mistakes.

One of the mistakes I’m talking about is using phrases or words that trigger spam filters.

I’m in the middle of making the list and realize…”duh, Drew, you’re going to email this out to the subscriber list and basically, by demonstrating all the criteria that trigger spam filters…you are going to trigger spam filters!”

Sooooo, I am going to list them here and then invite the email subscribers to come check out the list in this safe environment. You, my blog readers, are the lucky recipients of this little technology work around, because now you too can see the list of stuff you shouldn’t include in your emails if you want them to actually reach the recipient.

Start reading here…newsletter subscribers:

As I was saying….every email software has built in spam filters and most companies add another one of top of that. Every email that is sent through their server – on it’s way to your target audience – gets screened by the spam filters. If your email matches one or more of the criteria they set as likely to be spam – your email will never get delivered.

What are some of those common filters?

Excessive use of exclamation points or other punctuation!!!
Using ALL CAPS (especially in the subject line)
Bad code (copying a word document directly into your email software will often do this)
Colored fonts
An email that is just an image and very little actual text
The phrase “you registered with a partner” (in other words…we got your name from someone else)
The salutation “Dear” before the recipient’s name
Attachments

(Newsletter subscribers…you can head back to the newsletter to read the rest of the email marketing mistakes or you can hang out here..but don’t miss the rest of those tips!)

To you, my blog readers — thanks for letting me bring the newsletter readers into your space. If you have an interest in checking out the newsletter content — you are welcome to sign up by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of www.BigStockPhoto.com

How badly do you want it?

June 1, 2012

There’s a remarkable difference between wishing for something and the relentless pursuit of a dream.

On this, the 65th anniversary of when they broke ground on Walt Disney World… I ask you this:

What do you want so badly that you’d ignore all the nay sayers, tune out all of negativity, keep getting up every time you get knocked down and when you close your eyes… you don’t see what might be, you see what WILL be?

And… when are you going to start making it a reality? Walt Disney faced bankruptcy, professional ruin, and more “no’s” than you or I could ever imagine hearing. But the vision was so strong, so real and so non-negotiable – he simply kept at it.

There’s a famous story that I love. On the opening day of Walt Disney World, Walt’s brother Roy was being interviewed. The reporter commented that it was a shame that Walt did not live to see it. Roy quietly replied, “if Walt hadn’t seen it first, we wouldn’t be seeing it today.”

When you let yourself close your eyes and see the most audacious, crazy but spectacular thing in the world… what do you see and what are you doing to create it?

How to keep writing when the well is dry

May 31, 2012

From my mailbox:

I read your emails and your piece in the Business Record. I think a gal here at my company might have heard you speak at the NAWBO Conference last year (does this sound right?) Anyway… she said one of the things she took away was that you made a comment of how no matter what you had going on and/how you felt, you made sure to be consistent with your blog posts.

Some days I’m just not feeling it… like today, but I know I have to post consistently. Do you have any tricks you do to keep your head in the game or your confidence up when you write? I tell myself I’m my own worst critic and this is just one post of many… and regardless of it being great or crappy… it’s not going to make or break me.

My reply:

Hey there —

Happy to offer whatever advice I can. There are certainly days when I feel like the tank is empty. I’m either over scheduled or over tired or just over stimulated and I have nothing to say. Or, as you say — I’m feeling like what I do have to offer is lame or expected.

On those days, which fortunately are not all that often, I do one of a few things:

I cut myself some slack. I remember that one blog post is not going to make or break my blog and that no one is paying as much as attention as I think they are.

I sit it out. If I’ve just posted something on the blog (I average 3-4 posts a week) I’ll give myself permission to take a day off with the mental promise of being back on it the next day.

I go to my reserves. I always have a few posts written and tucked away for a rainy day. If I use one — I have to replace it AND write new stuff for the blog, so I have to be in bad shape to go to this solution.

I curate. There’s lots of good stuff being written out there and most of it goes pretty unnoticed. So on a day when I am not feeling inspired…I’ll go through my robust feedreader and find a gem that I think got overlooked by many. I’ll write a little intro, add some context as to why I think it is relevant and then post the link.

I seek out guest bloggers. I don’t do a lot of guest blogging on my site. But every once in awhile, sharing a different voice is kind of nice.

I use the answers to questions I’m sent. I get a fair amount of email from the blog and I try to answer it as best as I can. When someone asks something that I think others might care about too… I use it as content. (Like this exchange)

The bottom line is — you’re right, no one is going to die if your blog content is a little light for the week. But it can quickly become a rut that’s hard to climb out of. So hopefully some of the suggestions above will help you avoid the rut in the first place!

So — how about it readers — how do you create content when your well is feeling dry?

Are you making one of these 7 content marketing mistakes?

May 29, 2012

It seems like everyone is talking content marketing these days, like it’s it hottest thing since sliced bread.

Of course, for many businesses — this is just a new name for something they’ve been practicing for eons. They’ve been creating valuable newsletters or writing white papers for years.

Which does not mean that you’re doing it as well as you could or should be. Are you happy with the amount of people and the kinds of people your content marketing efforts are attracting?

Bigger question — how purposefully are you weaving a content marketing strategy into your overall efforts?

I’m betting your company is not harnessing the real power of content marketing because of one or more of these reasons:

It’s something that happens every once in awhile but not on a regular basis.
You create some content but don’t promote it well across all of your digital and analog channels.
You create content but you talk about yourself, your products etc. more than you should (you are selling, not teaching).
You produce some content but not in a format that is easily shared by your audience.
You do it in a silo, it’s not woven into all your other marketing efforts.
You don’t use an editorial calendar so your production schedule and topics are usually by the seat of your pants.
The visual presentation of your content is boring or worse — off-putting.

Recognize yourself in any of those issues? This isn’t all new stuff. MMG has been around for almost 20 years and we’ve always preached the power of content marketing –even before we had a name for it.

But thanks to our universal access to the internet and our ability to easily share files, visuals, etc. — this marketing best practice has taken on a life of it’s own.

If you’re not doing more of this than ever before — I think you need to ask yourself why. And what it is costing you.

How are you implementing a content marketing strategy for your business?

50 top entrepreneurial blogs for your reader

May 27, 2012

Every year the team at Evan Carmichael round up some of the best blogs out there and put together a top 50 list. This year’s list for the 50 best blogs for entrepreneurs is a doozy.

Here in the States, we have a long weekend for Memorial Day…so why not use a little of that extra time and load up your RSS feed reader with some of this great content? I’m excited to be on the list again this year and discovered several new blogs that are now on my radar.

It’s quite a wide array of blog topics — from gift cards to marketing with some strategy and law stuff to boot.

You’ll be glad you checked these out…

TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com – TopRank Online Marketing is a digital marketing agency founded by Lee Odden and Susan Misukanis that helps companies increase sales, brand visibility online and develop better customer engagement. We specialize in content based customer acquisition and relationship programs that emphasize social media marketing, search engine optimization and email marketing.

Small Business Trends

http://smallbiztrends.com – Small Business Trends was founded in 2003 by Anita Campbell, in Cleveland, Ohio. Small Business Trends is the premier source of information, news and advice covering issues of key importance to the small business market. Small Business Trends appears repeatedly at the top of lists of small business websites.

The Small Business Newswire

http://www.sbwire.com – SBWire is an online newswire specializing in the needs of small to medium-sized businesses. Thousands of businesses and organizations in over 150 different countries rely on SBWire for commercial news distribution, media contact management, online news room hosting and other public relations related tools and services.

KISSmetrics Marketing Blog

http://blog.kissmetrics.com – KISSmetrics is different from other analytics platforms due to a combination of three key features. We focus on funnels and conversions and make them easy to track and interpret, use people as the basic unit of measure, and support custom tracking. KISSmetrics is run by a team of designers, developers and entrepreneurs that are passionate about helping online businesses measure, grow and monetize.

Thirty Six Months

http://www.thirtysixmonths.com – Marissa – recent grad who has credit card debt. and student loans. Unfortunately, I learned my money lessons a bit later on in life. Even though I worked all through university and grad school, I also spent a great deal of it, foolishly. This blog will document my efforts to have a positive networth and pay off my debt as soon as possible. There might also be stories of my life and other goals in here as well.

I heard somewhere that it is advisable to be able to pay off all of your consumer debt within THIRTY SIX MONTHS, otherwise debt fatigue sets in. My goal to do it way before that.

The College Investor

http://thecollegeinvestor.com – Robert – I’m a recent MBA graduate who has always had a passion for investing and personal finance. I’m not uber rich, I don’t run a hedge fund (yet!), and I’m not a millionaire. What I do have is a beautiful wife, a loving family, great friends, and a passion for helping others with their personal finance.

Brian Solis

http://www.briansolis.com – Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, publishing, and culture.

Coyote Blog

http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/ – Coyote Blog is the work of Warren Meyer, a small business owner in Phoenix, Arizona. The name Coyote Blog came from two sources. First, it’s a reference to my adopted home of Arizona. Second, it’s a salute to my favorite all time cartoon character Wile E. Coyote, and, of course, that most famous of small businesses: ACME. The original mission was to cover some of the day-to-day travails and lessons learned in running a small business.

DollarVersity

http://www.dollarversity.com – This blog is a service provided by GreenBridge Advisors, an accounting and consulting firm located in Coral Springs, Florida. Taking that fact into consideration, you can expect to find articles on topics such as taxes, entrepreneurship, credit, debt management, personal and business finances, and a variety of other financial and business related issues. More than that, the blog’s goal is to inform, teach, and hopefully entertain you as well.

Faith And Finance

http://www.faithandfinance.org – Faith and Finance was founded by Tim in 2010. Tim is a Christian, husband, MBA grad, and entrepreneur. After competing a full-time MBA in less than one year (crazy? yes) he and a fellow MBA grad started a marketing firm designed to help small businesses with their online presence. You’ll find his approach to personal finance to be straight forward and practical. His love for learning and teaching others is what drives him to write such interesting articles and eBooks.

Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog – John Jantsch has been called the World’s Most Practical Small Business Expert for consistently delivering real-world, proven small business marketing ideas and strategies. John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, award winning social media publisher and best selling author Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine .

Caribbean Media Vision

http://cmvlive.com – Caribbean Media Vision is a contemporary graphic & website design studio located in St. Kitts. We here at CMV Specializes in helping companies to make their presence online and in the media by utilizing technology. Encompassing services that are geared towards giving companies a solid and comprehensive Internet presence, as well as services aimed at making the presentation of information much more professional and insightful, allowing companies to leverage competitive advantage off of the end results.

Inkling Media

http://inklingmedia.net/ – Inkling Media is an inbound marketing shop based in Lancaster, PA with an emphasis on social media. We provide consultation on utilizing social media as part of an overall marketing strategy. In addition to Social Media, we work with you to help implement a strong blogging plan, as well as organic search engine optimization.

Accounting and Small Business /Beverly Shares

http://www.bjconquest.com – Beverly J Conquest, Owner and CEO Accounting and Small Business, LLC — Knowledge + Expertise + Experience = Solutions. Over 20 years experience providing accounting solutions for established and startup businesses.

Living Locurto

http://www.livinglocurto.com/ – Living Locurto is published by Amy Locurto, a designer, stylist and mom of two from Dallas, Texas. What started in July 2008 as a blog about creative things I did at home with my children, Living Locurto has since turned into a top craft and party blog with great resource for moms.

CloudTweaks

http://www.cloudtweaks.com – With a team of content creators from around the globe, including CTOs, CEOs, CIOs, cloud bloggers, engineers and technology enthusiasts, delivers in‐depth articles, the latest news, interviews and other valuable content on cloud computing to a growing audience of technology professionals, including representatives government agencies, financial institutions, technology firms and Fortune 500 organizations.

Litigation and Trial

http://www.litigationandtrial.com – Maxwell S. Kennerly – I’m a trial lawyer for injured people and businesses at The Beasley Firm. Founded in 1958, we have recovered over $2 billion for our clients through hundreds of verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million.

Sramana Mitra on Strategy

http://www.sramanamitra.com – Sramana Mitra has been an entrepreneur and a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley since 1994. Her fields of experience span from hard core technology disciplines like semiconductors to sophisticated consumer marketing industries including fashion and education.

E-junkie Blog

http://www.e-junkie.info – Since E-junkie’s inception, our mission has been to lower the barriers to online selling. As E-commerce has grown more diverse and competitive, it occurred to us that merely providing good technology, such as our copy-paste E-junkie shopping cart, along with good customer service and tech support aren’t by themselves sufficient to meet our mission fully. We started this blog to provide such information to anyone who is selling online or has ever considered doing so.

Intuit Small Business Blog

http://blog.intuit.com – This blog is dedicated to a discussion of small business, including advice, resources, and insights we think will help you be more successful . We’ll talk about broad topics of lasting interest to small business owners, such as Money, Customers, and Employees. We’ll also share information on current Trends as well as stories about Local businesses. Authors include professional journalists, people who work at Intuit, our customers and research partners, and guest experts we invite to share their perspectives.

Marketing Trenches

http://www.marketingtrenches.com – The Marketing Trenches Blog is designed to provide marketers and business executives concrete examples of successful marketing strategies and tactics. The content is largely focused on internet marketing, but given that internet marketing should be integrated with traditional/offline marketing, the content is relevant for all marketers.

Inventor Spot

http://inventorspot.com – InventorSpot.com is a fun and informative website focused on Inventions, Innovations and Interesting Ideas from around the world. We offer serious fun for the inventor in all of us. We believe we are the most popular and most referenced invention related website on the internet. We also support the largest community of independent inventors in the United States.

Jim’s Marketing Blog

http://jimsmarketingblog.com – Jim Connolly – worked in marketing for 25 years, with my own successful marketing business since 1995. I specialise in helping small and medium sized businesses to make massively more sales and boost their profits. I achieve this by sharing my most effective marketing strategies with them and then coaching them on exactly what they need to do, to achieve ongoing, amazing results.

Smedio

http://smedio.com – Founded in January 2010, Smedio is the new media and social web guide for businesses and marketers. Our aim is to continuously define the business value of new media and the social web by equiping you with the needed insight and innovative ideas to help your business grow even more, using technology, new media, and the social web by bringing you useful breaking news, latest trends and techniques that you can use immediately.

Rewards Cards Canada

http://www.rewardscardscanada.com – Your complete source for finding and using the best rewards cards in Canada. Rewards cards can be a great way to supplement your everyday spending and help you save for amazing products and experiences. Here you will find detailed reviews of every major rewards card in the country, including the major credit cards that offer rewards points.

Crafty Raffle

http://www.craftyraffle.net – I started this site because I have serious craft envy. I love handmade stuff. Love it. It is a minor joke in my family that half my gifts for anyone are bought on Etsy (it’s not untrue). I used to make quilts as wedding presents before I was overrun by children, and I’m a photographer, so I am capable of pursuing creative outlets, but sometimes my efforts fall flat, and sometimes I don’t know where to start. I also love entering giveaways.

Drew’s Marketing Minute

http://www.mclellanmarketing.com/ – Drew McLellan – a 25+ year marketing agency veteran who lives for creating “a ha” moments for his clients, clients’ customers, peers and audiences across the land. His blog is written in a pragmatic, “how to” focus. He wants his readers to be able to learn, dicuss, challenge and implement the ideas they get from reading his content.

Recently he has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Week and Fortune’s Small Business. The Wall Street Journal calls him one of 10 bloggers that every entrepreneur should read.

Under30CEO

http://under30ceo.com – Under30CEO is the leading media site covering news, advice, trends & events for the young entrepreneur. Under30CEO is dedicated to everything relevant to a young person starting a business or anyone looking to learn more about the space. Now, nearly 1000 small business articles and over a million readers later, Under30CEO has developed into a thriving community for young entrepreneurs. Under30CEO is based in New York City.

Roundpeg

http://www.roundpeg.biz – A full service marketing firm, serving the Indianapolis small business community, we create websites, press releases, newsletters and brochures to help you launch your ideas and most importantly, close sales!

Content Marketing Today

http://contentmarketingtoday.com – By creating conversations with your customers we build your brand and your bottom-line. We bring more than 25 years of successful business experience to our content marketing strategist role.

Diversity

http://diversity.net.nz – Ben Kepes is an analyst, an entrepreneur, a commentator and a business adviser. His business interests include a diverse range of industries from manufacturing to property to technology. As a technology commentator he has a broad presence both in the traditional media and extensively online. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud.

I of the Consumer

http://www.zachhellermarketing.com – Zach Heller – My goal is to create a place of open communication about marketing, advertising, small business, etc. I invite comments, emails, and connections of any kind.

Point Blank SEO

http://www.pointblankseo.com – Jon Cooper – Here you’ll find all the information you need to start building high quality, white hat links in order to move up in the SERPs. This blog helps all link builders, both beginners and experts, in learning how to build quality links in a productive & time efficient manner.

Young Entrepreneur Blog

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog – YoungEntrepreneur.com was launched in 1999 and has grown to become one of the largest online forum communities for entrepreneurs worldwide. YoungEntrepreneur.com has become a “must visit” resource for start-up CEOs, founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, mentors and investors worldwide, reaching an audience that very few can match.

Indie Fixx

http://indiefixx.com – Indie Fixx is a lifestyle blog with a very healthy mix of indie design love, crafting and diy, some gardening and cooking mixed in with plenty of commentary and a healthy dose of joie de vivre. Indie Fixx had its roots as just an indie design blog, but has morphed into more than just a review of independent art & design. Plenty of that still goes on, but man can’t live on design alone (although one can try) and so the focus has shifted to include more aspects of living a well-rounded life—cooking, eating, creating, gardening, playing, loving, discovering, learning, meeting, sharing & more.

Vandelay Design Blog

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog – Vandelay Website Design exists to help businesses and organizations build a stronger presence online. By working directly with our clients to identify and address areas of need we are able to provide a customized experience and an end product that will produce results and lead to increased profitability.

ConverStations

Mike Sansone is an independent business consultant specializing in teaching professionals in various fields about using their voice (in-person or digitally) in ways to better reach their audiences. His experience in public speaking, sales and marketing, writing, and real-time online communication are strengths Mike relies upon in his role as a Conversation Conductor.

Rex Hammock’s RexBlog.com

http://www.rexblog.com – The blog of Rex Hammock, founder/ceo of Hammock Inc., the content marketing, strategy and media company founded in 1991 in Nashville, Tenn. Rex is also founder/helper-in-chief of the wiki, SmallBusiness.com.

Jeff Korhan

http://www.jeffkorhan.com – Jeff Korhan is an authentic, informative, and inspiring speaker who helps mainstream small businesses use social media and Internet marketing to increase their influence, enhance customer relationships, and accelerate growth. After 20 successful years he sold his business, and now applies three decades of marketing experience to helping clients develop sustainable marketing practices that capitalize on emerging business trends.

Business Pundit

http://BusinessPundit.com – Drea Knufken – one of the writers at BusinessPundit.com. Before joining Business Pundit, I worked in a variety of business and content production positions. Most recently, I was a travel writer. My book, “The Backroads and Byways of Colorado,” covers the best road trips in the state, mile-by-mile. Before that, I helped create two major websites for the Los Angeles tourism bureau, worked for Google (specifically, AdWords and Blogger.com) for three years, and worked for several technology startups in Silicon Valley at the tail end of the .com boom.

Aweber Blog

http://www.aweber.com/blog – Founded in 1998, we create email marketing software to help small businesses automate email follow up and email newsletter delivery. Our growing team shares a wealth of experience and knowledge about permission-based email marketing services with over 102,000+ current clients we work with daily.

Live and Love…Out Loud

http://liveandloveoutloud.com – Kristin O’hea– Encouraging, empowering and celebrating the everyday woman is what this here blog is all about. I’m living it up, loving out loud and laughing it off as I navigate my way through the challenges and triumphs of motherhood. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll realize that you’re not alone.

Understanding Marketing

http://www.understandingmarketing.com – The majority of small businesses realize the importance of marketing and PR in today’s ultra-competitive environment. They know the key to success is driving awareness and engaging with their customers in a way that enhances their brand. But they also know that margins can be razor thin and they typically don’t have the budget to hire an expensive marketing/PR agency to create exciting campaigns that increase the bottom line

Ohio Environmental Law Blog

http://www.ohioenvironmentallawblog.com – Joe Koncelik is an attorney with the law firm of Frantz Ward LLP which is based in Cleveland, Ohio. The focus of Joe’s practice is in all facets of environmental law as well providing counsel on issues relating to renewable energy and climate change. Joe has also fulfilled U.S. Green Builders Council’s requirements to qualify as a LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional.

SeanDaniel.com

http://sbs.seandaniel.com – Technology Tips, Tricks & News – featuring WHS, SBS and other Microsoft and Related Technology.

Simply Business

http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/ – The Simply Business team offers a range of business expertise which we are keen to share through articles, downloads, guides, news and more.
We can also answer questions about business insurance.

Small Business Mavericks

http://www.smallbusinessmavericks.com/internetmarketing – Founded by Caroline Melberg & Steve Melberg. Small Business Mavericks offers Website Marketing and Social Media Strategy for small and mid-size businesses.

Business901

http://business901.com/ – Joe Dager is president of Business901, a firm specializing in bringing the continuous improvement process to the sales and marketing arena. He takes his process thinking of over thirty years in marketing within a wide variety of industries and applies it through Lean Marketing Concepts.

Apptivo

http://runapptivo.apptivo.com/small-business-university – Apptivo’s platform is a collection of 40+ cloud based Business Apps. All the generic Business Apps are free and have absolutely no limits on usage. All the Apps communicate with each other and share the data so Apptivo users never have to worry about syncing or duplicating the data manually.

Mind Your Business

http://blog.bizelo.us/ – Bizelo’s small business apps (“mini-apps”) are web-based applications that work simply, and simply work!

The worst sales email ever

May 24, 2012

Maybe I’m wrong and you can top this…but check this out:

Hi folks,

Name Name here from InvestorGuide.com. Our network of sites reaches a business savvy audience of over 5 million people every month. We also have a million opt-in subscribers and 125,000 financial advisors ready to receive dedicated email blasts.

We’ve been in this business for over 10 years so we know what works. I’m trying to find out who handles media buys for your clients, and I’d really appreciate it if we could get an updated copy of your client roster. I think we can really make something work here.

Sincerely,

Ms. Name Name
Title
e-mail address

Hi Folks? So who all got this and how did I get lumped in with them? Send you an updated list of our client roster? Are you kidding me? Who writes these things and worse yet…who approves them to actually be sent to prospects?

This is why we have all the SPAM laws and why our email inboxes are so cluttered with junk that we can’t find the emails we want to receive/read.

If you are sending out emails like this — stop it. Now.

Photo courtesy of BigStockPhoto.com

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