Small Business Series
How to Market (and Grow) Your Small Business
At Magnets.com we’re all about helping our customers grow their business and bottom line. Accordingly, the next several posts will detail a number of easy, straight forward marketing initiatives that can be used to, well, help you grow your small business. And they’re all commercial free. We promise.
Now, you’ve probably read and heard from friends, family members, and colleagues alike a number of ideas that you should implement (some of which probably contradict others…). And that’s okay. With our ‘how to’ series we’ll be presenting a number of marketing initiatives that have truly worked in real world settings –be it for us or other small companies. We’ll also present a number of statistics showing the power of each technique and what it could mean for your business. Lastly, we’ll document the steps needed to implement each concept.
Topics covered include setting up a Web site, e-mail marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), press releases, social media, and online advertising. So, stay tuned and make a note to visit often!
How to Retain Customer Loyalty
January 17th, 2011 ·
Loyal customers help business thrive! According to a study by the global business consulting firm, Baines and Company,”a 5 percent increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75 percent!” In addition, loyal customers are likely to recommend your business to friends and acquaintances. Retaining customer loyalty is not hard to do -all you need is a little TLC.
Connecting with Bloggers
January 11th, 2011
Partnering with bloggers to spread your message is a powerful and strategic channel that many small business owners can incorporate into their marketing mix. According to Nielsen study results, “Ninety percent of consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70 percent trusted consumer opinions posted online”. Bloggers with a large following who have significant knowledge and experience within a certain topic or industry along can indeed influence how people think, behave, act, and spend.
Online Advertising
January 3rd, 2011
Now that we have discussed many of the free methods of increasing your site traffic and bottom line, it’s time to move to paid techniques. But don’t let ‘paid’ scare you –you’ll be completely in the driver’s seat. We promise.
Imagine your company’s ad(s) appearing at the top of Google search results pages when prospective customers search [...]
Getting your Small Business Written Up in the Media
December 7th, 2010
Ever wonder how companies large and small, global and local alike end up with a nice article in the newspaper? Or in industry magazines? Answer: chances are they have a savvy public relations person on staff (or on retainer) who has the know-how to get valuable (and free) media placements. Read on and be your [...]
Secure Shopping with Magnets.com
November 30th, 2010
A November 26, 2010 David Segal article in the New York Times reports on an online eyeglasses store by the name of DecorMyEyes. Saving you the time of reading through 5,681 words, the owner’s strategy is to lie, rip-off, and threaten his customers, all in the name of driving them to leave scathing reviews on [...]
Utilizing Social Media to Grow your Small Business (Part II)
November 29th, 2010
Now that you have some insight on the top social media Web sites, the following tips are sure to help you get started!
Learn it and Embrace it
To start off, create a profile for yourself so that you can see how it works from a consumer’s point-of-view. Check out how your favorite companies and businesses are [...]
Utilizing Social Media To Grow Your Small Business
November 23rd, 2010
By now, you’re sure to have heard about social media and how it’s changing the way we communicate and interact with one another. From Facebook to YouTube and everything in-between, new social media websites sites are being launched on a regular basis, storming into our everyday lexicon.
All fine and well, but there’s also much for [...]
Getting Traffic to your Web site –an SEO How-to
November 12th, 2010
Taking a “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it” philosophical approach, your new Web site will do little for your business if it’s not getting much -or any- traffic. While you can certainly pay for visitors, this post focuses exclusively on organic, or un-paid means of driving [...]
Creating a Web site for your Small Business
November 4th, 2010
According to a Nielsen Global Online Survey on internet shopping habits, “more than 85 percent of the world’s online population has used the internet to make a purchase”. With such a large portion of the population turning to the internet to locate (and purchase) services and products near and far, a Web site has become [...]
E-mail Marketing Tips For Small Businesses
November 1st, 2010
E-mail marketing is by far one of the most successful and cost-effective ways of marketing your small business. According to the Direct Marketing Association, in 2009, commercial e-mail returned a whopping $43.62 for every dollar spent. Talk about return!
As small business owners, it is vital to take advantage of e-mail marketing given that it is [...]
