How to Choose a Niche for Your Business

I’m sure there a lots of articles out there on how to choose a niche market for your small business, but I am going to just shoot from the hip.

First thing you have to drop from your mind is, “stick with what you know best.” It might work, but if it is the top keyword on your cogitation about which direction to point your life, you may just end up just doing more work in an industry you hate.

How many people hate their jobs? I don’t know, but I would imagine there has to be more than fifty of them. I’m pretty sure I’ve even known a few.

Find a niche that this picture will not cause you to look like.

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What is SEO and could you do SEO? Either way, avoid scammers. Part III

SEO, for me, is kind of like quantum physics. It makes me think of something the great physicist of the last century, Richard Feynman, said: “If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics.”

The same thing applies for SEO. No one knows for sure what those search engine bots are told to do by the algorithms they’re set to by the teams of engineers behind them. No one. We know some of the processes involved, sure, and we have theories about others, but much is educated guesswork.

Anyone you see who is trying to sell you a guide saying they do, and that they can teach you how to do SEO is ripping you off. They do not practice good business ethics, and you should always steer clear of them.

What is SEO and could you do SEO? Either way, avoid scammers. Part II

In the offline world starting small makes sense. You start small and try to grow. But this is the Internet. It is not yet completely governed by politics. There are computers involved, and computers work using logic. Simple, reason-based logic.

Often, these SEO experts who are trying to sell you their strategy will convince you to not even try to go for the big keywords. They attempt to make, and often succeed in making us pay for not trying. It is madness, and it is because they can’t succeed in getting valuable results, so they convince you that you don’t need those results.

You should not listen to them, or at least not pay them. It never hurts to listen for a bit; know your enemy is not just a cliché.

Well-written, original and researched material with relevant, high-quality content that is rich, but not over-saturated, with properly researched keywords and is linked to content-related sites – both yours and others – is the type of copy that works best. Though it requires more effort and time, it is the fastest, longest-lasting and certainly most profitable way to get ranked high on Google and stay there. Some people call it White Hat SEO. I call it honesty.

What is SEO and could you do SEO? Either way, avoid scammers. Part I

SEO is a very esoteric business, and I don’t pretend to understand exactly how it works. I am not an ‘expert.’ I haven’t done any talks, run and divisions or, really, anything job title-wise which would make a great addition to my resume. What I do know is that, whatever SEO is, I get it.

Naturally.

I can’t explain it, and I try not to think too much about it when I’m doing it. But, somehow, I get it done in a way that works.

Now, some people will try to make a living selling you

How to ‘Social Media’ for Small Business

First, you have to know, “what is social media?” Then, when deciding how to do social media for your business, you will have to decide whether you have the time to take care of it or not. Improper management of the social media channels your business sets up can be an even worse mistake than not having any set up at all. If you decide you don’t have the time to manage this side of your business, you have four choices:

#1: Do not do social media at all.

Bad idea, unless you have another great plan that no one else knows about.

Social Media Directors: Helping Your Small Business Use Twitter, Part II

Twitter tweets are one of the simplest, most popular, far-reaching and easily engaging social media interactions ever invented for small businesses social media interactions. Limited to just 140 characters including spaces, it forces both business and public users to be somewhat inventive with their use of language in order to say what they’re trying to get across. Its efficiency is a huge part of its power, and when you show that you are listening and receptive, Twitter users will notice.

One of Twitter’s best, and often overlooked, attributes,

Social Media Directors: Helping Your Small Business Use Twitter, Part I

Twitter, as with all social media, helps your business bridge a gap between you and your potential and existing clients. As some Vancouver businesses who have or are hiring social media managers have been finding out, on Twitter a customer can give you a rave review, request information on a product or service you offer, or lodge a complaint, all in real time. Having a service that makes sure you see both the positive and the negative content, while filtering out spam and other messages that you need not spend your valuable time on, is becoming imperative.

Why A Facebook Page Is Even Better For Business

At the same time that LinkedIn was looking like they could (and they did) potentially break the seal on the creation of a new dotcom bubble, Facebook decided earlier this year to allow us regular Facebook users to create Business Pages to promote themselves. The seemingly innocuous move is more of a game-changer than it might at first seem.

What Can Social Media Directors Do For You?

Social media encompasses an ever-evolving array of channels for consumers and businesses, big and small, alike. Your business needs to stay on top, but you are too busy. That’s where we come in, and here are some of the top tools we offer you.

Why Your Business Needs Social Media

Why do you need social media and someone to manage it for you? Here’s why: Whether your business is here in Vancouver, as a brick and mortar store, or online only, in today’s world, no matter where your business is, you MUST market online if it going to have any chance of being truly successful.