The week in review–here are some good articles I came across and are worth the read.
4 Ways To Nurture Your Child’s Entrepreneurial Spirit
Good advice for nurturing the entrepreneur in your child. This begs the question, and something that I have always wondered with sports and the athletes that play them—is it environment, talent or both that create what you become. Whether it be a professional, entrepreneur or anything else, it’s an interesting thing to me.
http://mashable.com/2011/05/31/entrepreneur-child/
How to Decide Whether Your Business Needs an App [INFOGRAPHIC]
Does your business need an app? Having a marketing plan is key in determining the answer.
http://mashable.com/2011/05/31/business-mobile-app-infographic/
8 Reasons Every Ecommerce Site Should Get Serious About Video
Video is something every business should consider, for several reasons. SEO is always a consideration and video is a good way to personalize your message and differentiate yourself from the field.
http://mashable.com/2011/06/02/web-video-business/
Launching Your Business: 4 Common Mistakes
Richard Branson discusses common mistakes entrepreneurs make when launching a business. They were good points, I thought, and most of the points really show how important planning is.
http://www.openforum.com/articles/launching-your-business-4-common-mistakes?cid=email_weeklydigest_insights
Forget Harvard: Here’s the Entrepreneur Test for the Rest Of Us
I think there are some good questions to ask yourself here when testing yourself to see if you are ready to be an entrepreneur.
http://www.openforum.com/articles/forget-harvard-heres-the-entrepreneur-test-for-the-rest-of-us?cid=email_weeklydigest_insights
Top 5 Foursquare Mistakes Committed by Small Businesses
If your small business is using Foursquare, this is a good read to recognize some common mistakes. Get the most out of your customers’ use of Foursquare and take advantage of the potential benefits to your business.
http://mashable.com/2011/05/29/foursquare-marketing-mistakes/
Debunking Some Common SEO Myths
SEO is a confusing subject for many small businesses. This is an informative article that can help the SEO non-expert.
http://www.businessinsider.com/debunking-some-common-seo-myths-2011-5
Celebrity coaches’ marketing tips
This article features some celebrity business “coaches” who have succeeded in their industry and are providing good advice to small businesses who are looking to grow their business. One of the bits of advice was to increase their personalized outreach, which is such a big part of today’s marketing, whether it be social media or speaking engagements.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/2011-05-30-challenge-marketing_n.htm
SEO: Beware of the dark side
SEO black hat practices can hurt your website’s search engine rankings, sometimes not recovering in time to save your business. Like with business ethics in general, proper SEO practices should be followed. It’s a good ideas to educate yourself on these practices. Be careful you do not hire an SEO firm that practices black hat methods.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9217101/SEO_Beware_of_the_dark_side
10 Ways to Improve Your Blog’s Effectiveness
Planning is a big part of your blog’s effectiveness. So is the personalization of the content. It’s a big part of today’s marketing.
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2074617/improve-blogs-effectiveness
Seven Ways to Make Your Customers Love You
Customer loyalty is so important these days, in this economy. I say it again, I am always amazed when companies do not do what it takes to make their customers happy and keep these customers they already have.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219712
SEO + Social Media + Blogging: When Will Big Business Catch Up?
Interesting to see (but makes complete sense) that small business is budgeting a larger piece of their marketing budget to social media while larger businesses are relying on traditional marketing.
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2075026/seo-social-media-blogging-business-catch
Introducing: The Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors
This article caught my eye, as a result of my love for the Periodic Table in Chemistry class back in high school (the only science class I have ever liked in my entire life). So this is the Periodic Table of SEO.
http://searchengineland.com/introducing-the-periodic-table-of-seo-ranking-factors-77181
Blending Paid Social with Organic Social
In this case, the “blending” I am talking about is finding the right marketing mix is blending paid social with organic social. But at the heart of it all is content, content, content.
http://www.webpronews.com/blending-paid-social-with-organic-social-2011-06
Obama seeks reshaped image for 2012 run
Politics aside, this is an interesting article. It shows that branding without a product of substance will always be a big job ahead for the marketers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2011-06-08-Obama-brand-economy-campaign_n.htm