How to Recession-Proof Your Business Using the Internet

I have just published a new report called
‘How to Recession-Proof Your Business Using the Internet’.

The report is too long to post here (about 9 pages). So I’m offering it to you as PDF to download. The report is free and you don’t even have to give me your email to get it

But if you find it helpful, I would like to ask that you will forward it on to someone else who might also benefit from it.

The Report covers:

• How People’s Behaviour Changes in a Recession and How to Profit from It [Page 2]
• What You Should NEVER Do in a Recession and What to Do Instead [Page 3]
• The 4 Reasons Why You Need to Market Your Business on the Internet [Page 4]
• The Top 3 Ways to Market Your Business on the Internet [Page 6]

To get the Report, Click Here.

‘Winning Websites for Small Businesses’ - a new handbook for New Zealand businesses

I have just finished writing a brand-new handbook for New Zealand businesses, called “Winning Websites for Small Businesses”.

I don’t believe there’s any other publication in New Zealand quite like this handbook because it’s aimed specifically at the unique needs of the New Zealand marketplace.

If you have a website for your business and it’s not getting you the amount of visitors, leads, or sales that you wish it was - this handbook has been written for you!

I’ve basically tried to summarise everything I know about website design and selling on the Internet, in a user-friendly way that is easy for the ordinary business person to understand.

This handbook is not about website design in the ordinary sense. It is about how to build a website that SELLS - and there’s a big difference

If you are keen to find out more about this handbook (and if you’re a New Zealand business that has a website, then you should be) then go to www.winningwebsites.co.nz.

Win customers by giving away FREE information

By Harvey Segal

What is the best way to attract visitors to your website? Everyone agrees on this point - it is by providing Free Information.

Let’s see how to do this and why it works so well. Suppose you are a supplier of video recorders. Hopefully you will be the owner of a professional sounding domain name, such as VCRworld.com.

You write an informative article entitled “How to Choose a Video Recorder” which explains:
* the key features of video recorders
* a guide to prices
* handy tips for using video recorders
* useful accessories
* potential problems
* future developments

Put this article on your website or have it available by mail (on an autoresponder if you expect a big response). While your competitors are all posting similar ads which say “Buy, buy, buy our cheap video recorders” or sending unsolicited bulk email to thousands, you will be posting short ads which say:

Our Free Guide: “How to Choose a Video Recorder” explains the key features to look for, prices and handy tips. Visit www.VCRworld.com. And whenever you contribute to any group where there are potential customers you include your signature:

“How to Choose a Video Recorder”
FREE guide - www.VCRworld.com

Your visitors will be impressed by the quality of free information you are providing and your well chosen domain name: they will regard you as an authority on the subject.

They will be easily influenced to buy from your site while your competitors’ unoriginal ads are consigned to the email waste bin.

7 Simple Ways To Build Traffic To A New Website

By Mike Tekula –

Got a brand new website? That’s great, but nobody cares.

OK, maybe that’s a little harsh. The truth, however, is that just having a website doesn’t get you much.

Many business owners I meet are surprised to find, once we look at the numbers, that the shiny new site they had built not too long ago gets little to no traffic on a daily basis. 

Many newcomers to the web make the mistake of thinking that just by buying a domain name and putting up your site, visitors are going to happen by - something like when you buy property and build a storefront in a busy part of town.

It just doesn’t work that way. The web is harsh.

You can have the best looking site in the world with great resources and content and go entirely ignored or unnoticed. It happens. It’s happening right now. Somewhere out there in the ether is a brand new gorgeous website loaded with great content, and nobody cares. Poor little lonely site.

But there is hope. Every website had its early days. Even sites that get hundreds of thousands of visitors a day started out with none.

Here are 7 simple things you can start doing right now to help drive traffic to your site.

1. Get Some Quick Links From Trusted DirectoriesLink building is a long-term process with long-term goals, but for brand new sites with no history you’ve got to start somewhere. There are a number of directories out there that provide free and paid listings (subject to editorial review, of course). Here are the ones I recommend: 

• Yahoo! 
• Business.com 
• JoeAnt.com 
• DMOZ.org 
• BOTW.org 

Ah, what the heck - here’s a great list of directories sorted by SEOmoz’s Trifecta score - bookmark it and get started.

2. Start Blogging

OK, blogging isn’t for everybody (especially you boring people), but it’s a great way to build relevant content at your site on a consistent basis. It also gives your visitors/ customers a way to engage with you. But please don’t make the mistake of being too “corporate” on your blog - do yourself a favor and check your Public Relations cap at the door. Don’t be afraid to discuss your mistakes, missteps you’ve made, and what you’ve learned from them as well as your triumphs. In short, be a human, not a brand. 
 
3. Consider Paid SearchFor new websites, the day when you receive all the traffic you need for free from search engines and other referrals is a long way off - if not just a pipe dream altogether. Often times paid search campaigns are a great way to get your site in front of your target market today. Be sure to keep your budget modest, though, until you’re confident in your ROI. Be sure to do your keyword research to find lower-cost “long tail” keywords - going after the big traffic keywords might be tempting, but it gets expensive and the ROI is often not the best. 

4. Use Article Marketing To Build LinksAs with any tactic, I’d recommend using this one in moderation. Article marketing is, essentially, trading words for links. It can help with link building, but the quality of the links it garners is usually less than stellar. 

Here’s how it works:

• Write an informative article on your site topic (or something related)
• Include an “about the author” section as well as links in the article that point to your pages using relevant anchor text 
• Submit the article through one of the many article syndication services (such as EZineArticles.com or GoArticles.com )
• The deal is, anybody can come along and publish your article on their website - provided they use the article in its original format including the “about the author” section. So when the article is published, any links you include back to your site are published as well.

5. Guest Post At Relevant Blogs

This certainly requires some up-front investment, mainly in terms of building relationships with bloggers in your topic (a little brown-nosing never hurt), but it can help get the flywheel turning for your site like nothing else can. Take the time to make your guest post remarkable and smart - your host blogger will appreciate it, and it’ll improve the likelihood of attention coming back to your site (which you’ll link to in your guest post, of course). Links from blogs are some of the most powerful editorial links you can get - don’t underestimate them for a second. 
 
6. Submit Your Site to Design Galleries

Is your website breathtaking to behold, beautiful enough to make angels weep? Yeah, sure it is. But seriously, if it looks pretty sharp there are plenty of web design galleries that accept submissions for new sites and link to the sites they feature. Particularly for CSS-driven design there are a number of galleries that will consider your site for listing (provided your site uses CSS for layout/styling - and God help you if it doesn’t) - including CSSElite.com, CSSHeaven.com, CSSBeauty.com and many others. Just search in Google for “CSS design gallery.” Unless your site is ugly - in that case, I can’t help you, and stop asking me to look at it.

7. Sponsor a Local Event or Charity

OK, I admit this is kind of a tired tip - but it works! Especially for local small businesses. Is there a local event coming up in your community? A local charity that has a website? Not only will sponsoring such an event give you all of the normal PR benefits (and self-righteous bragging rights) that are the byproducts of charity, but any web announcement for the event will potentially include a mention of your website as well as a link to it. And you can feel good about yourself for a change.

Bonus Tip: Be Patient

Alright, this one is cheap, I admit it. Not much of a tip. But it’s important to remember that you’re not going to see your unique visitors count skyrocket immediately for your new website. Most “overnight successes” actually take a few years to get going.

And if you find yourself checking your traffic numbers on a daily basis, please do us all a favor - step away from the computer, go toss the ball around with your kid, maybe take your niece out for ice cream. Contrary to popular belief, staring at your site traffic data has no positive effect on it.

Mike Tekula is the president of Unstuck Digital, a Web Design and Search Marketing agency based in New York.