Common Sense is Back!
Jury Duty, Newsletters, and the July Schedule
| In the last newsletter I announced that I was starting an extended period of jury duty. I learned a lot while serving, but something in my work schedule had to go. Rather than disappoint clients I suspended the publication of this newsletter.
Jury duty is over, some bad guys are in jail, and the newsletter is back!
Of course, just as we're announcing a normal Monday-Friday schedule, summer travel comes up. From July 19 - 23rd I will be in rural Montana and may not be able to get on to the Internet. If you have any web or promotion needs, please let me know ASAP, or I will be happy to work with you when I return on Monday, July 26th.
Of course, please contact us at 415.647.8830 whenever we can help.
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Are You On the Map?
| Have you noticed the mixing of map, media, and web sites in search engine results lately? You have to compete in more areas for Google's attention!
For example, a search for "San Francisco CPA" doesn't just return a list of accountant web sites, it displays a map pinpointing local CPA businesses.
Google Search Results Include Maps  | You want to be on this map!
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| To Tweet, or Not to Tweet |
 A hot place to meet up on the Internet is Twitter. Twitter is the service that lets you follow the famous, friends, and the unknown as they broadcast their news in 140 characters or less.
You can follow real-time updates of demonstrations, Presidential motorcades, and rock star escapades. You can share your own news and words of wisdom, too.
But is it Twitter a business tool? Should your business be Tweeting and sending out messages to inform existing and new clients of your insights and initiatives?
Yes! In addition to sharing specials, new services, and insights with prospective buyers, your Tweets will be read by Google. Search engines read the Twitter feed and will follow the links you include in Tweets to pages of your site.
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| 6
Career-Killing Facebook Mistakes |
We're advocates for
using social media for
business.
We're on Facebook as a company
(become a fan) and as individuals.
Unfortunately, too many
people don't
understand that telling your Facebook
"friend" a detail about your life isn't the
same as privately mentioning something to
your best friend in college.
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| Everything
is Incremental |
A week doesn't go by
without someone calling
us, telling us that if we let them take over
our web site, they'll magically make us rich
with the
traffic we'll get from Google.
You get those calls and
emails, too. Every
business owner gets approached by Internet
marketing wizards dangling visions of the
huge sales increases available to them when
they sign up for a service "guaranteed to get
them at the top of Google's results."
Is there a magic key to Internet marketing
that will make you rich? What different rules
apply on the Internet that don't exist in any
other medium?
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| The More You Ask for the Less You Get |
 Are you using your web
site to build a list
of prospects? Maybe you're offering them a
report or a gift, if they tell you who they are.
You want your web site
to be a 24-hour-a-day
worker for your marketing and sales effort. But,
if you ask too many questions, you're going
to scare away the quarry.
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I've Bitten the Bullet
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A year ago  I suggested that people spare themselves the expense of buying a new web
hosting service when they've decided to start a blog. (See "So You Think You Need a Business Blog"). I recommended instead that they begin blogging on a free service.
Only after you've determined that you are a consistent blogger should you get fancy
and start spending time and money on the blog infrastructure. In May, I decided that my blogging schedule was regular enough
to consider my effort serious. I decided to invest in a hosted blog. Why? - I want more flexibility in choosing blog themes.
- I want a larger choice of add-ins.
- I want to explore more customizations.
- I want to have hands-on experience to help clients.
I'm posting new blog entries about one time a week, and I welcome your reading and comments.
So please, check out the blog! Revisit it often, or subscribe by entering your email information in the box on the left-hand column of the blog page.
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