Happy 4th of July everyone! Here are some good articles I came across last week for a great week in review. Enjoy and happy reading! And have a safe 4th of July!

5 DIY E-Commerce Solutions For Small Business
Here are some affordable tools for ecommerce for small businesses.
http://www.openforum.com/articles/5-diy-e-commerce-solutions-for-small-business

Google Gives Authors Greater Recognition in Search Results
Google is placing a new emphasis on the author when searching for content.
http://mashable.com/2011/06/28/google-authors-search/

The Social Media Revolution in Remarkable Facts & Figures [VIDEO]
This is an updated version of the Social Media Revolution. I find these stats absolutely fascinating. Do you do too?
http://mashable.com/2011/06/28/social-media-revolution/

Google Analytics & Webmaster Tools Now Track the Impact of Tweets, Likes and +1s
Google Analytics now tracks social. And it’s free.
http://mashable.com/2011/06/30/google-analytics-social-plugin/

You Can Now Buy Facebook Ads With AmEx Rewards Points
When you are a small business owner, any little bit helps. It is great to see all the available tools for small business. Now is a great time to be a business owner.
http://mashable.com/2011/06/29/amex-facebook/

How to Stage a Small-Business Comeback
There is some good advice here in turning around your small business. Too often business owners have knee-jerk reactions and may be cutting in the wrong places—not only cutting in the wrong places but stifling their growth in the process.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219609

Study: local businesses prefer social marketing
It makes sense that local businesses prefer social media marketing. This article has some interesting information in it. I only wish they wouldn’t say that social media is free. It is free, kind of…but there is a tremendous amount of effort and resources necessary for social media. So if you are not counting the time you or your employees are spending on this effort and this marketing channel, then yes, I guess it is free.
http://vator.tv/news/2011-06-30-study-local-businesses-prefer-social-marketing

5 Opportunity Costs of Not Having A Content Strategy
I like this article because it encourages having a plan, which is something I talk about all the time. In this case, they are talking about a content marketing plan, which when you have it, you can best take advantage of capitalizing on all your marketing channels and getting multiple uses out of one single effort. But I do think there is a typo in this article (in #5 in the first sentence—I think they meant to say ‘A social media presence without a content strategy’).
http://www.intelegia.com/en/2011/06/29/5-opportunity-costs-of-not-having-a-content-strategy/

Get social media into your marketing plan
This article made a couple of good points. It emphasizes that, again, you need a plan and through a plan you will be able to determine how all your marketing activities—both inbound and outbound—can work cohesively together. I thought a key determination in this article was the fact that this channel, social media, is not going away.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110629/SCBJ14/706299984/1005/BIZ

How to Learn SEO as a Small Business Owner
Learning SEO is definitely a daunting task, when there are so many things on the minds of business owners. Here are some good resources.
http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/06/learn-seo.html

Ten Inexpensive Ways to Reach Your Target Market
Notice a theme here? Here’s another article that mentions having a plan as an important factor for success. The other 9 tips were good ones too.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/exit/the-top-tens/ten-inexpensive-ways-to-reach-your-target-market/article2034405/

HOW TO: Manage Your Online Reputation Using SEO
There are ways you can manage negative content about you or your company.
http://mashable.com/2011/06/27/manage-online-reputation-seo/

Social SEO – Facebook & Twitter Best Practices
Optimize, optimize, optimize.
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2081719/Social-SEO-Facebook-Twitter-Best-Practices

 
 

Please contact Anna Brice at Pinnacle Peak Marketing, Scottsdale AZ about Marketing for Small/Medium Business.

Email: anna@pinnaclepeakmarketing.com
Phone: 480-661-0292
Website: https://pinnaclepeakmarketing.com