business blog Tag

First-Time Web Entrepreneur Delighted by Ease of Business Blogging with iePlexus

The term blogging often sounds awkward and intimidating to newbie web entrepreneurs and emerging small-business owners, however, the concept behind the wording is quite the contrary. In fact, e-commerce go-getter Gloria McQuade insists that blogging is as simple as keeping a pen and paper handy to scribble down creative thoughts and ideas as they come to you.

“It’s important to be a multitasker to succeed in the competitive world of e-commerce,” McQuade said. “As a full-time employee by day, I have to take advantage of every free moment I get to help market my web business.”

Blogging allows business owners to promote their products/services in brief, engaging articles while dually encouraging interaction and discussion among consumers. It also happens to be a key concept behind the professional marketing strategies of iePlexus – the company that helped McQuade formulate a business blog of her very own.

Developed in May 2010, www.PrincessAndTheBlog.com was created to educate readers about the numerous functions and exciting features presented by McQuade’s collection of dollhouses that’s available for individual purchase through her web store. In recent posts, she has discussed important tips for assembling a dollhouse, the similarities of dollhouse doors to life-size doors as well as the dramatic difference dollhouse accessories – such as winding staircases and decorative furniture – make to each miniature home sweet home.

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Effectively Using Social Media to Market Your Small Business

Despite its unequivocal position as the latest fad in business marketing and an immense legion of business execs and media sources touting its merits, a recent study shows that small businesses aren’t capitalizing on social media. While large, well-established corporations have jumped on the social media bandwagon with unbridled abandon, small- and medium-sized businesses appear reluctant to adopt this marketing trend.

According to the 2010 Business Monitor United States report, just 24 percent of small and medium businesses have generated sales through social media, and less than 1 percent cited social media as the dominant factor in promoting their business. Instead, companies have continued to utilize somewhat antiquated means of attracting customers, including old-fashioned word of mouth, networking events and traditional advertising. This aversion is quite surprising considering the ample amount of information and resources for implementing social media advertising  currently available to business owners. (more…)

More Blogs = More Customers

Hubspot released an interesting survey Thursday, which stated that companies who blog more, have more consistent sales.  The survey consisted of 231 professionals who were either involved or familiar with their companies marketing strategy and plan. 

According to the report, “social media and blogs are becoming marketing powerhouses.  They are the fastest growing category in lead generation budgets and they continue to be ranked as the lowest cost lead- generation channel.” (more…)

Blogging Drives 55 Percent More Traffic to Sites

Blogging on your company website could help you bring in more traffic. At least that’s what HubSpot is saying after a recent survey. The company sampled 1,531 HubSpot customers, most of which were small- to mid-sized businesses.  Roughly 52 percent, or 795 businesses, had blogs on their sites, while the remaining 736 did not. 

The study shows that companies with blogs received 55 percent more traffic than with those without. If you are wondering why it is so important to have more visitors to your site, HubSpot says it’s “because more visitors mean more people to convert to leads and sales.” (more…)

Small Business: 6 Online Myths Revealed

The e-commerce industry is filled with different ideas on what’s the best approach for a small business owner. Having spoken with many small business owners, I know there’s some common myths that seem to resonate with website owners more than others. No matter who, where, or how far along in the process they are, an industry like this can spread some serious rumors and propagate some strange ideas. SmallBusinessNewz has been profiling some of these most common myths in two-part video series based on findings from Homestead.com’s CEO & Founder Justin Kitch. The second part in the series, featured below, covers common myths on marketing strategy that really speaks volumes. From my experience, these are definitely some popular misconceptions when it comes to running an online business.
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Business Blogs and the Media

When the phenomenon of blogs first started, they were simply a way for people to post their personal thoughts on the web, like an online diary. Blogs were bulky, had little features and were difficult to incorporate into a business. The few pioneers in the industry knew from the beginning however, that blogs would explode into the most effective form of communication on the web. These days, you can’t escape blogs if you spend any time online at all. Along the way, blogs emerged as an effective business tool and the media began to acknowledge the profound effect they’re having on the way we do business.

Countless articles have been written about the astounding effect blogs have had on business. Many chronicle the story of a small business with an innovative product that was picked up by bloggers and spread across the blogosphere in a matter of hours, resulting in an enormous buzz that led to extensive financial benefits. Businesses have been built on blogs, some emerging in a few days just through this aspect of utilizing blogs and viral marketing to get the word out.  This article highlights one of those stories.
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Advertising With A Business Blog

There are many advantages to advertising with a business blog in today’s competitive online marketplace.

For one, blogs carry more weight with search engines because they are updated regularly with fresh, informative content. This consistently updated information is a magnet for search engine robots. When these bots crawl blogs, the more information that can be found and indexed the better. Blogs add more and more content as they develop, thus helping that information reach more customers. The users finding blogs online are typically very targetted visitors, having searched for a specific keyword found in the blog to end up there. The owners of these blogs are also advertising their sites all over the internet and participating in the very active blog community.
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What Your Customers Want

Getting inside the head of an e-commerce shopper can be a daunting task. There are many variables when it comes to the question of conversions; including product cost, professionalism of your website, shipping factors, payment options and much more. With the rise of e-commerce comes increased competition. Don’t think that your customers won’t search out your exact same product on your competitors site to find the lowest cost. With seemingly endless availability, how can you ensure your business gets the attention and the customers it needs to survive?
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Embracing Web 2.0 Marketing

With the constant expansion and evolution of the web, new trends develop almost daily. The new buzz is all about Web 2.0, a concept that is quoted often, but doesn’t have a concrete definition. For those of us who dive into the internet in our daily lives, it’s something we can’t avoid, even if everyone explains it a little differently. For our purposes, Web 2.0 is the advancement of the web, the progression from single, isolated websites to a vast expansion of connected applications and services. Websites like Flickr, MySpace, Digg and LinkedIn embody the idea and fundamentals of Web 2.0 – they’re not just websites, but communities; networks of users collaborating for the end goal of improving and categorizing the endless amount of information on the web. We now have the opportunity to use the internet as a platform for connection, and the concept of Web 2.0 enables that. Keep in mind this isn’t limited to social-oriented websites, business and application based sites are just as affected, and they’re embracing the new changes for the potential they hold.
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