Over the past 15 years starting a new business has become easier than ever before. The daily dread of horrible bosses, annoying red tape and ringing alarm clocks that force you out of bed before God get’s up is forever behind you, as you make that long-awaited jump to start your own online business. Your dream of financial freedom and peddling your own wares is almost as easy as point and click.
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Google is launching its new ‘AdWords Premier SMB Partner Program‘. This vendor referral program has been designed for the small business advertisers who want to invest in AdWords. The small businesses will be referred to a list of companies that have been a part of Google’s ‘authorized reseller’ program. Read the rest of this entry »

You’re probably stressed.

It’s likely that you (and your customer contacts) are doing the job that used to be done by three people.  The information density of our world is overwhelming. Budgets and resources have been slashed.
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Local.com announced today that it has been awarded a patent by the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office for its Exact Match technology.

Exact Match provides local businesses a system for reaching out to ready-to buy consumers. The system provides local shoppers with product and pricing information while using location-based information to determine relevance.

According to Heath Clarke, CEO of Local.com, “Consumers are increasingly using mobile devices and apps to research products that are ultimately purchased at brick-and-mortar retailers.”

Approximately 17 percent of all Internet searches are conducted by local consumers researching a product or service they hope to find locally. This number is expected to grow to 20 within the next few years.

Exact Match products supply small businesses with several different outlets for distributing product information. Exact Match Local, for example, provides prominent, first-page ranking on one of the major search engines such as Google, while Exact Match Mobile offers driving directions and one-click contact information. It is believed that these tools will increase brand awareness for locally owned businesses, driving consumers to the stores.

Source: Local.com

If you’re a Success without Shackles subscriber, you know I’m an extreme sports junkie and serious recreational athlete.
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What would a personal ad from your company look like? What kind of customer are you looking for?
Most of us say we want more leads, but in fact what we really want is better leads.
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There is a never-ending list of things businesses must purchase in order to grow. It’s just a fact, and that fact is exploited by plenty of folks that want to sell you things that may or may not actually propel you towards growth.

In the building of your brand, both online and off, there will come a time when a company approaches you with an offer for a service that seems to address a need, but in fact, is so detrimental it may actually do more harm than good.
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Check out part two of the series, on how small businesses can engage in marketing on Facebook. In this piece we will throw some light on how small businesses can engage in marketing on Facebook. You can also checkout our Part 1 of the series: Beginner’s Guide To Facebook Marketing.

If you are a small business owner, then you have the following constraints when you think of getting your business on Facebook-

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One of the greatest uses of the Internet for small local business is as a tool to enhance their greatest offline strength – the ability to engage in person.

While the Internet offers the ability to reach globally, it possesses real power for the local business in its ability to extend reach locally.

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For as long as anyone that’s read this blog can remember, I’ve routinely uttered the phrase – strategy before tactics^TM. I firmly believe that lack of a clear marketing strategy is what leads many businesses to the ranks of the commodity.
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