All Posts by dmyers

Here are 2 local seo tips to rank higher on google and get more customers.

Why do we need local seo tips?

 Local seo is used to rank higher on Google.  In order to get our Google Business Profile to rank higher, we need to optimize our profile and do a few key things on an ongoing basis. The first local seo tip is that we need to post at least 2-3 times per week on our google business profile. Each post should mention your primary key term and the city that you're targeting.

How to optimize our posts for local seo.

When logged into the Google Business Profile, click on "Add an Update". You will be given 3 choices: Add an offer, event or general update. In this example we added an update. The second local seo tip to help you rank higher on google and get more customers is that we need to optimize the images or videos that we are adding as an update. To optimize our image, we should do a few things:

*make sure that the file name contains the key word and location

* Include alt text that contains the same or similar information,

* add your logo, business name, phone number and address on the image,

*add the keywords plus the locations to the image as well.

Local seo tips: bonus and summary.

An additional local seo bonus tip is that if adding all of that information gets to be too messy, you can shrink the location or other text to a small size that you can't read or just change it to match the background color. Humans won't be able to read it but the google bots can.

1. Post at least 2-3 times per week.

2. Optimize your images and videos for your keywords and location(s).

Following these two local seo tips can help you rank higher on google so that you can get more customers. If you need help, please reach out to our seo consulting services at www.visionshaperconsulting.com or 678-902-2969.

If success seems to be always out of reach, being clear on your personal definition of success has proven to be the key ingredient.  It is like the glue that holds all other tools in your personal development toolkit together.  Here’s how you unlock your potential and start enjoying this incredible yet challenging journey that you’re on.

We really must ask this question:  what is your idea of success?

This is personal.  While many may inspire or motivate you to get some things done, the ultimate decider of your future is simply YOU.  It’s your own definition of success.  This is about you and your aspirations.  Not mine.  Not Tony Robbins.  Not Bill Gates.  Not Jay-Z, etc.  We must spend the necessary time to become crystal clear on what success looks like to us. Trying to be like others pulls you away from what’s most important to you.

Our personal definition of success must include our own unique challenges and circumstances.  We each have barriers from our internal and external world that we must deal with and overcome in order to achieve our own definition of success.

How to Define success in your own words

As simple as it may seem, our quest for success begins and ends with one word - Values.

The things that we value determine how we will act, what types of things will put us into action and for how long we will stay that course of action.  We cannot define success without focusing on our values.  Once again, gaining clarity in this area is of great importance.

What is a good definition of success?

A good definition of success must stem from your values as we just alluded to.  Just like when you set out to change your life with goal setting, we want to look at all of the key Areas of Life: 

1.  Personal Relationships (Family, romance, friends, etc.)      

2. Financial/Business

3. Health/Wellness         

4. Spiritual      

5. Personal Growth  

6. Do You -  Fun and Recreation 

Your personal definition of success must include a balance across each of these 6 key areas.  I suggest that you pretend that you could waive a magic wand and make all of your dreams come true.  This isn’t about what you today believe is possible, but more-so, this is about what you’d like to happen.  We’re not talking about necessarily a one year definition of success, but rather, we’re looking further out into the future, 5-10 years or more.  

Peronal Relationships - What would success look like for all of your close personal and familial relationships?  How would you interact with your spouse, partner and children?  How much time would you be spending together and doing what?  You can further extend that to your friends and even acquaintances.  People are always first and foremost (or at least they should be) when we discuss personal success.  We also need to be aware of what habits we need to build in order to reach each level of success in these key areas. Does this require any specific routines?

Do You:  Fun & Recreation - It’s imperative to take time out for self.  We must be intentional about taking the time to relax, have fun and reflect on our progress and setbacks.  What fun and recreational activities will you be doing as a part of your 5 year fantasy?  Are there any fun skills that you will have learned?  There are no limits here so please, let the kid come back out.  Stretch yourself a bit.  Be ok with intentional jubilance!  You work hard.  You sacrifice.  You deserve a break and to have some time to yourself.

So how can you define your own success?

Success = Freedom & Free From (what & who)

I believe that success in many ways consists of the Freedoms that comes with being daring and disciplined enough to write down what you want and to have a plan for how to achieve it.  You have freedom to spend quality time with those that matter most.  You are free to take vacations or travel.  The list of what you could do is likely endless and once again, depends upon your values.  

Success also equals “Free From”.  You are free from stresses and stressors.  You are free from worrying about the financial security of yourself and loved ones.  You are also free from many of the people in your life that are not in alignment with you.  Beware and shun at all costs these dream crushers and non-believers.  They are energy drainers and take away a vital part of your gift to your family and community.

So what is a good definition of success?

 It’s whatever works for you.  It’s everything that you desire and are willing to work for.  It includes the people that are worth serving and motivate you to move forward, despite the trials included.  Success stems from values.   Success rests solely on you, though it may be assisted by the help of others.

I must reinforce this one more time.  Your Personal Defintion of Success should reflect your values.  Be clear on what they are.  Over time, you will act consistently with your values, for better or worse.  

Pick one (or more) area of life and tell me what is your personal definition of success?  How will you know it when you’ve achieved it?  

Please Like and subscribe.   Share it to help someone else.

Yours in Service,   Dale Myers

www.leadingadvanced.com

www.visionshaperconsulting.com

The right marketing tips can have significant impacts on your ability to attract customers to your small business. To dominate in business, you need effective marketing to identify and reach your customers.  These 4 powerful marketing tips for small business can give you the much needed edge over your competition.

There are different types of marketing tips that we could discuss.  Many only choose to look at the purely tactical marketing tips, but this is a mistake.  The tactical pieces of marketing are necessary, but they only come into play after we’ve appropriately identified and clarified our customers, with a keen desire of their needs.  

This is akin to doing and knowing what the greats in basketball, football and other sports already know: it’s the fundamentals that win championships.  We don’t have to get overly technical or try to do all things glittery and shiny.  Our goal as business owners is to be fundamentally sound in our approach to marketing.  Get the basics first, then we’ll add in the fun, sexy stuff….Or not.

With that being stated, Here are 4 Marketing tips to Mangle your competition:

Customer focused Marketing Tips for small business:

Really, the buck starts and ends right here.  Many businesses will fail simply because they refuse to take this important step.

1. Be value oriented. This means that you must be in contact with your customers to fully understand their needs.  You must identify who your ideal customer is, what it is that they truly desire, and fulfill those needs. We’ve touched on this before in several videos including this one:  We discussed in depth what it means to provide value as well as questions to ask in order to determine that value.  If you’d like to read the article about how to provide value then click here.
   

Don't forget, if you're a local business, here's how we get Google to send us and our clients more customers! Try our SEO Consulting.

2. Anticipate future needs and desires.  This step can only be done after close and intimate contact with our customers.  Think about what problems or issues they are likely to have in the future and provide solutions. This increases your value and also increases customer switching costs.  In the above blog and video on providing value, we discussed how to do this.  

Note that these first two marketing tips for small businesses can only be accomplished by communicating with your customers.  As entrepreneurs, we must be intentional about questioning our customers.  If you’d like further examples, in this video, we looked at it from a different angle.  You will often find both large and small opportunities to separate yourself from your competitors.

Sales and Marketing tips and tricks

There are many overlooked opportunities to change the value or perceived value in the eyes of your customers.  One such opportunity involves pricing.

3.  Change your prices to increase market share or profitability.  This price change can either be an increase towards premium branding (possibly higher profit) or decreasing price so as to broaden your market.  Be careful:  price can be a perception of value, and you must be lowering your expenses while lowering your prices or else you’ll erode your profit.  

Many entrepreneurs inherently believe that by lowering prices, they will increase volume and thus profitability. One must be very careful and deliberate in running the required cost/benefit analysis to ensure that profitability and the required return on investment is in fact being reached.

If you’d like a more thorough discussion of pricing strategies, check out this video:

4.  Provide the one key benefit, while mitigating risk. All customers have fears associated with purchasing.  While communicating with your customer, seek to understand their fears and develop methods of diminishing them.  This could include excellent customer service before, during and after the sale, an outstanding return policy, or no/little risk guarantee.

Sales and Marketing tips and tricks

Here’s a bonus to add to our marketing tip for small business owners:

Take the time to develop a sales process.  Practice it daily.  Go out and effectively secure the business.  Simple enough right???

This is another Achilles heel to many entrepreneurs.  Most don’t like sales and even those who do, don’t take the time to develop a well thought out sales process for each of their products or services.  Even us seasoned entrepreneurs can make that mistake.  More on that in a coming article…..

Unfamiliar with the 7 steps of the sales cycle?  Then watch this video where we discuss the basics which you can use to help grow your small business.

These 4 tips can absolutely help you to hone in on your customers’ desires and increase market share.  Bear in mind that this only matters if you’ve taken the time to develop a truly excellent product or service. Not perfect, but excellent.

No marketing tips will work if you haven’t taken the time to get out and talk to customers.  Talk to them on the phone.  Go visit them where they are.  Meet them in the streets.  Talk to them online.  Use social media like facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.  Take a look at forums where people ask questions and give answers such as Redditt, YahooAnswers, Quora, etc.   

Yes!  It can be a lot of work.

Yes! It’s absolutely worth it.  The insights that you will find can either help to differentiate your product offering, provide competitive intelligence or more.

Having said that, the marketing tips and tricks will absolutely work if you’ve identified your ideal customer.  If you haven’t taken the time to do this, then it is akin to speaking a foreign language to someone while trying to sell them something.  You likely never will and almost certainly, you won’t get repeat business.

Let’s not waste our time and energy. Let’s not waste our resources, nor the valuable time of our prospects.

Let’s identify our ideal customer, then employ these small business marketing tips.

If you like the article please share with friends and family. 

If you prefer to watch a video summary of these points, click here.

It’s my pleasure to be a part of your success.

Dale Myers   www.leadingadvanced.com 

www.visionshaperconsulting.com