5 Ways to Revitalize Your Small Town Business

Has your business stagnated? Sometimes, it seems like there’s nothing you can do to change your fortunes for the better. We all struggle at times. More often than not, there is something you can do. Getting back to basics and rediscovering your entrepreneurial roots could be just what the doctor ordered.

“To improve is to change. To perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill (by way of Netflix’s House of Cards)

Or maybe your business is in a great place, but you realize that to remain competitive, your business needs to keep adapting. Here are 5 ways to revitalize your small town business.

Continue reading

4 Reasons Your Business (Probably) Needs a Website Update

Jemully Media - 4 reasons you need a technology update

Time to Update Your Website.

You may feel like your website needs an update. In fact, it probably does need an update to continue attracting visitors to your site. There are several factors that need to stay up-to-date on your site. Your website must offer your visitors a good user experience where your products and services are easy to fine. Your site must be mobile-friendly across a myriad of devices. And, it may need an update of your on-page SEO to draw in potential new customers from the search engines.

Technology advances so rapidly that new devices can be rendered vintage after a mere three or four years. This is true of phones, tablets, desktop machines, and yes, even websites. Business owners find this frustrating, but keep in mind that keeping up is important — even vital — to your success. In short, it pleases your customers, saves you time and money, and keeps you well-connected.

As a business in the 21st century, it all boils down to what others see. This means a website that is easy to navigate, SEO, and an active presence in social media. As a company, you need to be visible, and your visibility needs to impress and invite.

Continue reading

10 Lessons for Online Marketing from our Friends on FRIENDS

10 Online Marketing Lessons from our Friends on FRIENDS

“So no one told you life was going to be this way (clap clap clap clap)
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s DOA…”

America’s favorite FRIENDS, Joey, Chandler, Ross, Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe, have some valuable lessons for us when it comes to the world of content marketing or business blogging. So if you feel like your company’s online presence is always stuck in second gear, then read on. We’ll be there for you.Continue reading

6 Smart Tips for Brand Storytelling in Social Media

The art of storytelling in online marketing.

Social marketing through brand storytelling is about connection. So, you’re a business owner and you’ve got a killer product. Do people know about you? More so, do people believe in your brand?

On social media people share videos, details about their lives, recipes, and advice on anything from what removes carpet stains to which pediatrician has a good reputation. These snippets are pieces of our respective stories. And therefore, the most successful online marketing occurs through storytelling, which connects your audience and your brand.

Finding out what will motivate your audience to connect (and stay connected) to you requires some forethought and research. It takes more than merely posting frequently about your business.

 

“Too many brands continue to fail at convincingly placing what they have to offer inside the lives of the people they are trying to reach.” —Mark Di Somma, Branding Strategy Insider

 

But this is what brand storytelling does. So, how do you place your brand inside people’s lives?

Continue reading

Color Psychology in Web Design and Online Marketing

As web designers, we know color schemes are critical to appealing to your target audience. In our post “5 Reasons You Need a New Website Design” we reference a study that shows people form their first impression about a business within 3 seconds viewing the website. In 2-3 seconds you don’t have time to register content, but instantly you see the colors.

Color psychology studies how color affects human behavior.  Since our reactions to color are largely subconscious, it is an intricate subject that is difficult to qualify. Skeptics of color psychology say that our reactions to colors are too subjective to classify; also, our responses vary due to gender, culture, personal experiences, and even moods. While these inconsistencies make research inconclusive, there are still studies that show that there is more to color selection than meets the eye.

Continue reading

5 Reasons You Need a New Website Design

We look at a lot of websites. You could say that we are websiteseers. And we’ve noticed there’s a whole category of websites out that are somewhere between good and bad. Let’s call them the Bachelor Pad websites. A bachelor pad site is fully functional (so it’s not totally bad), but it’s so generic and unimpressive that it’s not good. You could say these sites need a “woman’s touch.” Some may only need touching up, but some need a completely new website design, and stat!

Continue reading

Is Facebook for Business Worth It? 4 ROI Tracking Tips

Is Facebook for business helping you grow ?

If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably asked these questions, at least once: Should I be on Facebook? Why? Will I get any real conversions from it? We are constantly engaged in conversations with each other and with clients about the importance and the role of social media in business. This article is a great read and got our wheels turning. You have to think differently about ROI when it comes to Facebook for business. Let us show you why – and how to make the most of it.

#TweetableTakeaway (if you just want the bottom line):

Facebook ROI’s are different from that of traditional marketing and other online marketing like Google Adwords. Learn to use it to your advantage.

Continue reading

6 Blogariffic Blogging Tips

Blog writing tips

#Tweetabletakeaway

Most anyone can write a blog, but it takes mindful finesse to consistently deliver quality content that hits SEO marks and is entertaining. (Click to tweet.)

As we push forward into the business year, we are intent in continuing our self-education, that is, learning and exploring all things related to our craft of inbound marketing and social media. This week ,we spent some time refreshing our knowledge around writing quality blog content.

Blog content writing is both simple and complicated. Although we’ve been writing for ourselves and our clients for some time, it’s always a good idea to refresh even the basics. Problogger has extensive lists of ideas for keeping it quality and getting your blog seen. He’s shared some of my favorite blogging tips. Check them out!

Continue reading

Does My Business Really Need a Blog? 10 Steps for Starting.

small business owner needs a blog

One of the most common questions I am asked by business owners is, “Do we really need a blog?” The answer is YES. Yes because of Google. Yes because your potential customers have questions about your products that you need to be answering. Yes, because static, rarely-updated, brochure-ware websites are dead. I think they’ve been dead for some time now, but Google really put the final nail in the coffin with its latest algorithm change that emphasizes the value of (and the need for) fresh content. Google Wants Fresher Search Results. Continue reading