I was on the Internet before Al Gore invented it. My focus is marketing, promotion and site traffic. Consequently, my responsibilities at The Harper-Mees Team involve online marketing and promotion for the team.

At times, I still provide consulting services for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It boggles my mind that many small business owners feel a website is something they can get around to later than sooner. A website should be right under “get a cell phone” for any small business owner or entrepreneur.

I wrote this post to demonstrate to my friend Greg, a chiropractor in Warner Robins, GA the power of a good website. I have noticed over the years, that no chiropractor that I could find is leveraging the Internet successfully – and it would be so easy for these guys! The day after I posted the article about Greg, our site came up #1 on Google if you searched on “warner robins ga chiropractor.” Heck, we are far away from Georgia and real estate is a long ways away from chiropractic. But that’s the power of the Internet, those that know how to use it can dominate Google search results.

Here are the Top 10 Must Haves for Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs

Get A Blog – Read BusinessWeek – Blogging for Business This is a must read – The New Rules of Marketing & PR and don’t forget this one –Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business

CraigsList – This site can do wonders for your business. 80% of the people using Craigslist use it ineffectivley. Craiglist is responsible for 10% to 20% of our monthly traffic (6500 unique visitors a month)

LinkedIn – a business networking site. What can I say – get linked! Once you create an account, read Jason Alba's book.

RSS – Learn about the value and power of RSS. This rss reader – Netvibes –  helps you to stay informed, track your markets, keep an eye on the competition and much more. Short videos here and here on rss.

Google

• Alerts – Keep on top of your reputation, the competition, your local communities and more.
• Base – Instantly post anything into the Google index. Use this and Craigslist to broaden your product/service exposure.

News Releases – This valuable resource is overlooked by many. Here are several sites you can use:

• I-Neswswire
• PR Leap
• Free Press Release

Send Out Cards – Create custom greeting cards for your business and send them to your clients/customers with gift cards included.

Duct Tape Marketing – Read John Jantsch, his site is a treasure trove of small business marketing gold.

PhotoScape – For those overwhelmed by Photoshop, try this free photo editor.

Digital Camera – You can still find this discontinued digital camera – Kodak EasyShare V610 6MP Digital Camera with 10x Dual-Lens Optical Zoom – This is a dual lens ultra-wide angle camera that is so easy to use. If you can get one of these – do it quick!

If you’re a small business owner or entrpreneur interested in improving your online presence and marketing – send me an email – john (at) the harperteam.com

What is a blog?

A blog is nothing more than a website. It’s a website that is more dynamic in nature than the “static sites” you are used to seeing. A blog can “stand-alone” or be integrated into your website.

Features that make a blog different:

• A blog runs off a database
• A blog allows you to post articles in a very simple manner that are displayed in reverse chronological order – the most recent post is at the top of the page.
• The content you post on your blog can be syndicated (via a feed) (rss – really simple syndication) – readers can subscribe; when you post new material, it is automatically delivered to them.
• Blogs incorporate a method of search technology called tagging. This allows a blogger to help define what his post is relevant to. This makes it easier for people to locate posts of interest to them.
• Blogs allow visitors to your site to leave comments on what you post. You get to dialog with your audience.
• You can categorize your posts
• Your content is stored forever in your database and each post has unique web address that is permanent – permalink.
• Blogs allow your posts to be easily incorporated into other people’s blogs while giving you credit for your content through a trackback link which is nothing more than the permalink to your post with a feature that notifies you when people are tracking back to you.
• Blogs have feature that allows you to easily notify search engines and directories when you post new content to your site – pinging. (this is usually an automatic process)
• There’s more and some of it is technical, but you wanted simple, didn’t you?

What remains the same?

• Most blog sites also have traditional site pages – About, Services, Contact, etc.
• Blogs have a list of links to other blogs so instead of a “List of Links” you have a “Blogroll”

Are blogs important?

Yes, very much so. If you are in business, you need a blog. Blogs represent the next evolution of the Internet. Blogs make it easier for your customers and clients to find you and get to know you. Blogs are a PR and marketing person’s dreams come true. Blogging can do more to help you promote your business for free than anything you have ever seen.

How do I get a blog started?

If you want a blog, contact john@theharperteam.com . I hold free classes and clinics on blogging locally. You can get a blog for free. It’s easy to blog. If you can type in a word processor, you can blog.

How do I subscribe to blogs?

This is the most difficult question to answer, because there are so many options. All of Microsoft’s new products have rss technology built into them (it’s going to be that important for business). Most new browsers have rss built into them.

I am going to limit this to one recommendation. It’s what I use. If you learn to use this, you will become familiar enough with the whole process to be comfortable switching to anything later.

I use Netvibes. I have Netvibes set as my home page. When I get on the Internet, it automatically starts downloading my feeds (subscriptions). I like Netvibes. I’ve used it for over 6 months and am quite happy with it. Netvibes allows you to separate your subscriptions in files with tabbed headings.

Here is a great tutorial on using Netvibes

Questions, comments, suggestions –

John Harper

john@theharperteam.com