Marketing

One of the biggest perks of running daily deals is being in control, and deciding when you want to run them. Whether it’s once a year, once a month, or even once a week–you get to the make the final decision on what works best for you business. How do you know when the timing is right?

The right timing for your local deal will really be based on what you’re looking to accomplish. Maybe you want to make the most of your busy season, fill up the store when things are slow, or show some customer appreciation. Here are some of the best times to run local deals:

When you’re at your busiest

It may seem counter intuitive, but one of the best times to run a local deal is when your business is at its busiest. Whether it’s a certain day, weekend, or even an entire month–times when your business is already seeing heavy traffic are perfect for running a local deal. (more…)

Can you believe the holidays are upon us already?

With the busiest shopping days (and therefore busiest days for marketers) quickly approaching, you’ll want to make sure you can maximize the impact of your efforts. In particular, you’ll want your email and social media content is share worthy. This way your current audience will help you spread the word about your business to their friends, who make great prospects for shopping with you this holiday season.

So, how do you create share-worthy content? Here are 3 ideas:

1. Pay attention to what your fans, followers, and readers really want

If you want your business to be part of your customers’ holiday plans this season, you’re going to need to deliver content they actually care about. This is especially important during the holidays when your customers are not only busy, but are also being bombarded by content from a number of other businesses fighting for their attention. (more…)

You’re sitting in front of your computer, hands ready to go on the keyboard, and then you freeze. You know you need to write something engaging, whether it’s for your website, your blog, or a Facebook post, but you have absolutely no idea where to begin.

It’s okay. We’ve all been there.

So where can you go for inspiration when you are stuck? Here are 3 ideas:

1. Look to others in your industry

One of the best ways to find inspiration is to look at what others in your industry are talking about. Can you offer a different viewpoint or advice on a topic? (more…)

This article is the second in a series on Internet Marketing for Beginners. In the first article, I discussed setting a proper online goal. A website should either generate sales, leads, or support for an existing customer base. This article will focus on the first goal: Generating Sales.

Some of you may think ALL websites should generate sales. However, in my opinion, only a few should consider that their goal. When I say, “generate sales,” I define that phrase as allowing someone to put a product in a “shopping cart” and paying for it online. The merchant has only to ship it at that point.

The majority of you don’t need a shopping cart. Basically, those who sell high-priced items or services rarely need a shopping cart. Examples would include realtors, repairmen, consultants, etc. (more…)

Studies have shown 97% of consumers research products online before buying local. Given that; one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that it’s critical for business owners to use all available resources, especially FREE ones, to enhance their business’s online brand and make it easier for customers to find it. The easier it is to find your business; the more likely you are to gain customers. In this series of blog posts, I endeavor to explore how you can leverage online resources to help provide a boost to your bottom line.

First step in improving your business’s online brand is to claim its online business listing on business listing services and review sites as well as establishing your business’s presence on social networks. Bing Business Portal, Google+Local, Yelp, and TripAdvisor are examples of business listing services while Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and Google+ are examples of social networks. Consider the following benefits and I think you’ll agree with me in that it’s definitely worthwhile. (more…)