I love it when I find a feather on the beach. It reminds me that there are angels around and something special is coming. it always takes me back to listening to Paulo Coelho, author of The Achemist, saying that when he finds a feather, it is a signal for him to start a new book.
What does a feather signify for you? – Suzie Cheel
Images of America at work have changed dramatically since the recession started. Things are still not in a perfect shape. The unstable state compels the American workforce is transform constantly. However, something that really has helped small businesses to survive in the recent outburst of recession was outsourcing.
In the tight economy, it’s essential for companies from all verticals such as entertainment, media, energy, healthcare, utilities etc to consider outsourcing paid work. Outsourcing — hiring an outside company complete work that otherwise would been handled by employees — is not a new concept. Small companies have outsourced tasks related to accounting, payroll processing, distribution, and more.
The flat economy compelled many companies to suffer huge layoffs. Still they needed professionals to handle certain tasks for them. Many small businesses opted for outsourcing to survive. They outsource non-critical jobs and enjoyed several benefits. For instance:
Most economists are of the view that though the recovery has started, the recession will accelerate the long-term trends of automation as well as the movement of workers toward different jobs in the service sector. That means that people will still be moving jobs.
Have you tried qualified outsource to help your business better serve your clients and customers?
Have you started an outsourcing service yourself?
The small business with outsource firm partnership can help us grow small business in these hard times.
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Thank you, George. Every freelancer and web design firm knows and shows the value of outsourcing what we’re not good at.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
Blogging is all about being personal.
It may sound too simple that anyone will understand it not more than a personal online diary. Hence, let me just explain a little bit for you to understand from another perspective.
I may not be the expert to give you an educational answer about branding and marketing. But in my opinion, if anyone can understand the difference between branding and marketing, that person will definitely understand the true meaning of being personal.
Both marketing and branding have different goals. Let me just explain to you in my own understanding after working for a while in the society.
Marketing aims to effect an eventual sales transaction. Hence, it gives the person an instant gratification as he/she tries to tell the world who he or she is. It is very similar to a person who is devoting himself/herself to be extremely sales-driven. He or she will go out there to tell the world through Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, LinkedIn or any other social media that he/she can reach.
Branding aims to communicate by means of “impressing” what this blogger stands for. It is not so much about looking out for maximum exposure. But rather, it leaves an impression to anyone who notices him/her.
This blogger will usually focus a lot on building quality contents, beautifying his or her blog design, and making sure that everybody perceives him/her as who he or she really “is.” Isn’t blog branding about “being personal”?
Some experts believe that perception is everything. Branding — which shapes perception — leads everything!
Some believe that marketing is the key to business viability, especially when it involves product development, market development, channel development, sales force management, etc. Thus, it is more directly impacting revenue.
Both marketing and branding aim to affect higher profitability. In general, marketing has a wider effect but lesser depth (volume, sales, etc). Branding on the other hand usually tries to enable clients to pay a “premium.”
Both are really important in its own way. While marketing is pretty straight-forward and is more like a how-to strategy, I wish to emphasize on this phrase “blogging is all about being personal.”
Getting more customers is not just worthy, it is necessary to keep your business alive. In order to enjoy success you have to continually build upon what you have. There are a number of things that you can do to grow your business. With a bit of planning and investing just a little time, you can begin enjoying a steady stream of new customers. Here are a few tips to get you started:
What ways do you use to engage customers and keep them coming back for more?
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The inestimable value of friendship and influence is taken as a given here. This post assumes that you already know the “why.” It addresses the “how” in terms of timeless psychological principles which are fundamental to building personal relationships. Of course, commerce and business alliances are also based on personal relationships. We are talking about how to get people to know, like and trust you.
You may have heard these principles in some form before, but they are so important, in my opinion as a social psychologist, that they are worth repeating until we remember to act on them.
Meeting the people you want to connect with involves exposure. If you want to be in the right place at the right time, be in a lot of places. However, it is wise to choose which places are most likely to put you in front of the kind of people you want to know. “Stack the deck” to improve the odds that synchronicity and serendipity will work in your favor. In addition to finding the “right” people, you will be seen in the right context. The mere fact that you belong to a group or a specific social network causes you to be perceived as “one of us.”
Friendship begins with being seen and being noticed. Psychologists know that the old myth, “familiarity breeds contempt,” is false. In fact just the opposite is true. Why do you think politicians invest so much on yard signs? On the internet your personal brand is enhanced by repeated exposure. Post, comment, tweet, like, link, etc. Get your name out there for starters.
To win friends it is more effective to be interested than to be interesting. The best way to motivate people is to find out what they already want and give it to them. Among the things people want most (and don’t already have) is attention. They crave recognition and respect. I suggest that you consider paying, or rather investing, attention.
In a free market economy good listeners are in big demand and short supply. Listening is a technique that is more easily said than done, because we also want to be heard. On social media we “listen” by reading with comprehension and commenting appropriately to show our understanding and interest. We invest attention by re-tweeting and linking.
Recommending or endorsing people (or their content) makes them like you. Sincere compliments are always appreciated, and your recommendation is valuable to them as well. Be authentic. Sincerity is one of the most likeable traits.
Stephen M.R. Covey wrote a book called, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything in which he calls trust the very basis of the new global economy and the essential ingredient for any highâperformance, successful organization.
Greg Ferenstein wrote a post on the Mashable.com blog called, The Science of Building Trust with Social Media. Ferenstein quotes Professor Judith Olson of U.C. Irvine, who conducted research on internet trust. Professor Olson notes that “lacking traditional markers of trust, such as voice intonation and body language, when only text is available, participants judge trustworthiness based on how quickly others respond.”
Consider how you feel when someone fails to reply to your email or return your phone call after you leave a voicemail message. You build trust when you reply quickly to comments on your Facebook posts or on your blog. Commentators get frustrated when their comment is “awaiting moderation” for too long. It is risky to leave a “Drive-by” comment on another blog without waiting for a reply to engage in conversation. Although it is essential to be authentic, showing respect for another’s point of view in an online dialog helps create trust.
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Thank you, Buddy! Great insights on how fuels attraction and influence.
— ME “Liz” Strauss
In the blogging world Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and placement in Google Organic Search isnât usually at the top of the priority list. Bloggers blog to add value to the lives of other people. Google seems to have finally recognized this with their newest algorithmic update (still in progress) called Google Penguin.
Google has released two major updates recently in an effort to combat spam. They are called Google Panda and Google Penguin. Itâs over simplification but basically:
Google Panda attacks the misuse of keywords
Google Penguin attacks the misuse of links
Great articles about Penguinâs affects on SEO in general can be found on the websites SEOMOZ and Search Engine Land . This article looks at what Googleâs Penguin update means specifically for bloggers.
Bloggers who are just out there producing great content may find their numbers skyrocketing after Google Penguin (most recent May 25th/May26th and June 7th/8th). Why? Well, the update looks to take away credit from linking strategies that have created unnatural organic placement for websites in the past.
Google uses more than 200 separate ranking factors for organic search. One of the results of Penguinâs update is that more âprofessionalâ sites are now trumped by smaller blogs especially for targeted keyword searches. As the larger websites fall the smaller blogs rise.
For example, researching a Lean Management book entitled Toyota Kata returned several small blogs in the top search positions. The authorâs University of Michigan personal page for the book actually ranked below the blog reviews when searching for the words Toyota Kata Reviews.
Generally, longer blog posts seem to be doing well post Penguin update. Widely shared posts are doing really well.
Despite the positive sides of Penguin for many bloggers the new updates can also cause a blogâs placement in organic search to decline. Here are some of the reasons your blog rankings may have declined post Penguin.
Penguin has hit many directories hard. Google has decided that many of the directories and bloggers rolls were just too spammy. They have lowered the ranking of many directories and this in turn can lower the ranking of your own blog.
Comments that have links to spammy sites and bad incoming links can negatively affect your ranking. Google is supposedly developing a disavow tool as we speak to give websites the power to remove unwanted incoming links when they occur. The ETA on this new disavow tool is 6 months.
Specific Blogs will do better post Penguin. Your blog may be too general and this can hurt your organic rankings. Here is why. Google places a higher value on incoming links that come from websites that are similar to your own. If your blog topic is too general the likelihood of other sites linking to you from unrelated sites is higher. For example, lets say you have a home improvement blog and somewhere along the line you wrote a large series on building doghouses. Through that series a group of pet supply stores started to link to your blog to show their customers how to build doghouses. Googleâs computer bots might not get the connection between pet supplies and DIY.
Paid affiliate links can hurt if the ratio is too high. Provided the ratio of paid links to unpaid links is not too high the blog should be ok. However, this is something to watch.
Update! Update! Update! Do what you do and do it well. Google is completely on board right now with blogging. The more you update the better you will do in organic search.
Produce amazingly useful content that is widely shared. Here are three examples from blogs in different industries.
Accept posts and ask for guest posts from bloggers within your own industry. The links that connect guest posts are organic, useful for readers and OK by Google!
Do sign up for good blog rolls and directories. The safe list on SEOMOZ is a great place to start.
Learn Googleâs rules and use their tools. Google tools are useful and they can quickly keep you up to date on all the new things happening at Google.
Donât put all of your marketing eggs in one basket. Google is not the only search engine out there, and organic search is not the only way people will find your blog! There are a variety of other ways to market your blog that may be just as good at driving traffic as Google organic rankings. Alternative marketing strategies include:
Have a mixed basket and no matter what Google does in the future viewers will find you and the blog will grow!
Thank you, Jen! Great information on the update. Love having it all one in place.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
