Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

I originally presented WordPress for Business at the March 2012 Southern Illinois Social Media Club meeting. I am honor to have been invited to present.

The issue with WordPress for Business is that a lot of business owners are either confused, or have the concept of social networking and having a website backwards. I hope that I cover some basics for Businesses in understanding what WordPress can do for them, and some tips to help them on their way.

WordPress for Business: The PowerPoint Presentation

WordPress for Business: The Podcast Presentation

Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:22 — 38.2MB)

A lot of people do not realize that even though you have an online presence in several popular social networks that you are going to reel in the traffic, and then sit back and make money. It takes more than your online efforts.

All those connections online are great, but what about those in your surrounding community. There are thousands of aspiring small business owners who are looking to get ahead. They are struggling with what few tools that have, and with what little knowledge in business practices. They start a business because:

They found a passion they would like to pursue.

No matter what type of service, I have found a lot of business owners who give up because they had no idea they had so much they could do if they had down the work to learn how to manage a business properly. While it is exciting to start a business, it takes a lot of work. People are hard to convince that something is worth purchasing.

If you are doing okay online, try your community. Go to businesses in person, shake their hand, and tell them a little bit how you can help their business grow online. Make sure you have done a little research and know their genre so you can catch their interest the best. They want to make money and if you say you can do it and explain in a brief introduction how you can help them do it, they may just hire you.

These are the people that if they do find success online using your methods, they are going to mention you (both in the community and online) and that will increase your reputation both online and in the community. Online businesses owners might just be the next thing local Rotary clubs and Chamber of Commerce chapters might invite.

Are you reaching out to your local community? How have you connected? What advice can you give for successful encounters with local business owners in increasing their social media marketing awareness?

No matter how experienced or capable a freelancer you are, you will never get new work if nobody knows you exist. Promoting your freelancing skills online is the best way to attract new clients and can even help you keep the ones you already have. What’s more— online promotion these days isn’t expensive.

Having a fantastic website showcasing your freelance services is definitely the first step. But that’s only part of the battle won. You still have to get people to view your site, and once they’re there, they still need to actually make use of your services.

Getting people to know what services you offer is a lot easier than you might think. Effectively reaching out to new clients online involves both diligent homework and research – and can even demand an initial outlay of cash. But when you look at your bank balance at the end of the month, you’ll realize that the dividends are worth it.

Ways to Promote Yourself Online

Here are some simple ways to promote yourself and your freelance business that cost almost nothing. Some ideas are so simple you’ll be surprised that you didn’t think of them yourself!

Build a great website. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. An easy rule to follow is that your website must clearly explain your freelance business in fewer than 10 seconds. Keep it simple, and make it visually compelling as well as a good read.

Write your own blog. Make it informative and interesting, but also make it personal—use this opportunity to give your product a personality! Content should be frequently updated (at least once every two weeks) and relevant to your own freelance business to attract potential clients. Create content other than text for your blog as well. Incorporate podcasts or YouTube clips that will distinguish your freelance business from the rest. Sometimes it’s that little personal touch that can really make a difference.

Update your Twitter and LinkedIn profile regularly. Make sure your Twitter profile says all the important things about your freelance business, and ensure that your LinkedIn profile is sprinkled with industry-relevant keywords. Get in some testimonials and recommendations from friends, too.

Advertise yourself for free by offering content related to your business to other sites. Target businesses in a related field that would have a genuine interest in the types of content you can offer. For example, if you are a freelance writer, create an article about writing tips and link your bio to your site. Offer your article to writing communities.

Make sure every email you send goes out with this a signature that includes a link to your website.

Optimize your site for search engines by using SEO best practices. You can read about SEO online or hire someone to help you.

Put yourself on Yahoo Local and other similar directories that offer free listings, then ask satisfied customers or partners to recommend you.

Syndicate your content. Take advantage of organizations that will syndicate your content for free, such as ISnare and EZineArticles. Make sure your bio discusses your freelance business, and that your URL is always included.

Post in business directories that promote services similar to yours – just do an online search to find out what’s on offer. Most of them are free.

Try PPC – or Pay per Click Advertising. This costs money, but if executed correctly, it can drive many qualified visitors to your site.

Offer to give a presentation be a (free) guest speaker at a convention or marketing meeting. Order business cards from an online printing company to pass out after your presentation.

Getting your freelance business off the ground doesn’t have to be difficult, but creating a niche for yourself in today’s competitive market can take a lot of forethought, time and effort.

Freelancers who know how to effectively and affordably promote their business online are well on their way to creating a successful niche for their own freelance business. These ideas are just some ways you can promote yourself without breaking the bank – give them a try!

Two AtomicPR Campaigns Are Nominated for PRWeek’s Campaign of the Year Awards

Two of AtomicPR’s recent public relations campaigns were each nominated for a PRWeek Campaign of the Year Award. Atomic PR was recognized in the Product/Brand category for its success in re-launching the Polaroid brand. In the Non-Profit category, Atomic PR was recognized for their work with The Trust for Public Land to save land around the Hollywood sign in California.

AtomicPR’s Proprietary ComContext Analytics Platform Essential to Campaign Success

Crucial to the success of both campaigns was AtomicPR’s ComContext analytics platform. This proprietary program uses real world data, analytics and metrics to develop strategies and gain insights for PR campaigns. In a change from traditional PR methods, which rely more on experience and opinions, ComContext gives clients solid proof of direction to achieve maximum public relations results. By following the ComContext analysis, many AtomicPR clients have seen a 100% improvement in their PR performance measures. That’s not to say traditional PR methods don’t have a place in today’s PR campaigns. The Polaroid re-brand is a good example of how new and traditional PR methods can work together for greater effectiveness. The campaign owes its success to the combination of traditional press conferences and media outreach with social media campaigns and on the ground presence.

Two of AtomicPR’s recent public relations campaigns were each nominated for a PRWeek Campaign of the Year Award. Atomic PR was recognized in the Product/Brand category for its success in re-launching the Polaroid brand. In the Non-Profit category, Atomic PR was recognized for their work with The Trust for Public Land to save land around the Hollywood sign in California.

AtomicPR’s Proprietary ComContext Analytics Platform Essential to Campaign Success

Crucial to the success of both campaigns was AtomicPR’s ComContext analytics platform. This proprietary program uses real world data, analytics and metrics to develop strategies and gain insights for PR campaigns. In a change from traditional PR methods, which rely more on experience and opinions, ComContext gives clients solid proof of direction to achieve maximum public relations results. By following the ComContext analysis, many AtomicPR clients have seen a 100% improvement in their PR performance measures. That’s not to say traditional PR methods don’t have a place in today’s PR campaigns. The Polaroid re-brand is a good example of how new and traditional PR methods can work together for greater effectiveness. The campaign owes its success to the combination of traditional press conferences and media outreach with social media campaigns and on the ground presence.

I am a dedicated server client of HostGator.com and have been since 2008. Believe me, when I moved there, it was a real lifesaver. What really blew my mind was when HostGator had a fire in the first few months I started with them. I was concerned and Brent personally responded to my ticket, telling me that he would credit my dedicated server account for a month. I thought -’Wow! This was huge to me! I had five days of outage and I got a whole month for free!”

A little bit of facts on HostGator:

• Founded in 2002
• Located in Texas
• As of 2011, HG is making $85 million + in sales
• As of 2011, HG employs over 650 people
• In 2010, Web Hosting Magazine gave HostGator the Highest Level of Recommedation (as per Host Gator’s Wikipedia page)
• HostGator is on Twitter – @hostgator (over 15K followers as of May 2011)
• HostGator’s Facebook fan page (over 8K fans as of May 2011)

I knew for my first interview of my Social Media Successes Series, that I needed to interview Brent. Without further ado, please enjoy my interview with Brent Oxley, the Founder of HostGator.

NILE: What inspired you to start a company for web hosting?

BRENT: I was inspired to get into web hosting as a result of one web failure after another. My career on the Internet started all thanks to a spammer. I was playing a friendly game of Starcraft one day when I was spammed a message about how I could make $20-$50 an hour watching ads while surfing the Internet. I was just another broke kid, and while I wasn’t all that intrigued with getting paid to surf the internet I was very interested in all the affiliate programs these paid2surf companies offered.

I realized that if there were big bucks to be made it would be by referring as many people as possible. Cashfiesta, bepaid, alladvantage, cashwars, and many more promised to pay 10-20%+ of all the money your referrals earned.

I quickly built my first website on a free web hosting company and began promoting the site everywhere. The referrals began to pour in and I was well on my way to becoming filthy rich. The problem I had with the free hosting company was that they placed ads all over my site and weren’t that flexible. I decided to go professional by purchasing my first dedicated server as well as hiring a web designer. My first “professional” site focused on the sport of paintballs, starcraft information, and of course converting as many people as possible to the various paid2surf programs.

In about one years time I managed to refer over 50,000 people to all the different paid2surf programs. I was owed hundreds of thousands of dollars however was only paid a total of $80. It seemed every time a big check was due the companies would delay my payment by either claiming the check would be mailed soon, or even worse just flat out cancel my account.

After this failure I decided to build a new site focused 100% around StarCraft called scfreak.com. In about six months time the site was generating 2,000+ daily unique visitors and earning me $40 a day. Things were looking great! I was in highschool clearing over a thousand dollars a month by working from the comfort of home.

My sites continued to grow both in traffic and revenue until the dot com bomb hit in 2000. One by one all the companies that paid me went out of business. It wasn’t long until I had over doubled my traffic and was barely making enough to pay the server bills of around $200 a month.

I was looking for ways to make extra revenue and since I already had the servers for my gaming sites web hosting seemed like a natural fit. Freakwebhosting.com was soon born and exclusively marketed on scfreak.com. It wasn’t long before business began to take off which lead me to drop the freak network and change the companies name to hostgator.com.

NILE: In the beginning, how did you promote HostGator?

BRENT: I got a few signups from my gaming site scfreak.com, but the bulk of business came from offering free web hosting assistance to webmasters. I’d browse all the web hosting and webmaster forums reaching out to anyone that needed help. I found that once people are posting questions online they are usually pretty fed up with their current hosting provider’s support and ready to leave. I’d do my best to solve their problem, and after doing so they would usually be so impressed that my hosting would sell itself.

I used this method to signup the first few hundreds customers, and by doing so word of mouth began to catch fire. It wasn’t until hostgator had about 1,000 customers that I had the money financially to begin experimenting with advertising. I was still a pretty small operation so while I had a few thousand dollars to advertise with I didn’t have the money to spend $100’s per customer as we do now. In the beginning I experimented with marketing our shared hosting plans, which failed miserably due to the cost per acquisition being in the hundreds. I kept trying new methods of advertising before discovering that the reseller hosting market was untapped. I found that I was able to convert reseller hosting customers for about $30 which ended up being about a one month return on investment.

Ironically I hated reseller hosting at the time due to customers always asking me questions I didn’t know the answer to. They were more demanding, more knowledgeable, and a support nightmare for someone such as myself that wasn’t that technical. Nonetheless I saw the potential, which led me to devote 100% of all available funds towards the reseller market. Reseller clients made up the bulk of our new business for many years allowing us to become the worlds largest reseller hosting company. Resellers helped us to gain the reputation, financial backing, and word of mouth required to compete in the shared hosting market as we do today.

NILE: What has seemed to be the greatest attribute other than the excellent hosting itself, that has drawn in and kept customers coming back?

BRENT: I believe it’s the ability to reach out and get help from anyone within the company. We are hosting over 5 million websites and regardless of what a customer is paying they’re able to get support from me or anyone else in management on a personal level. This keeps myself along with the rest of management very in tune with customer issues as well as accountable for our actions.

NILE: What kind of tips do you have for Internet based businesses who are looking to successfully use social media practices to increase sales?

BRENT: Your company will flourish or die from the reputation it has on social media sites. All it takes is one person bashing you to possibly lose out on hundreds if not thousands of customers.

The best tip I can give is to reach out personally to anyone speaking negatively about your services and to do everything possible to resolve their issue.

Protect your reputation at all costs!!

NILE: Has having a Facebook fan page for Host Gator helped and what have you done to market through Facebook/ your Facebook fan page?

BRENT: We have a Facebook page, but really don’t do that much on it. In fact I’m not even able to answer this question without asking around at Hostgator.

I personally feel the biggest benefit our Facebook page along with the rest of our social media presence has is with our search engine rankings along with reputation. Social media is becoming a bigger part of search rankings every day.

Everyone is different. Yes, it is cliche, but when it comes to negotiating a freelance project between buyer and provider, no transaction is the same.

It could be based on the employer or the actual freelancer, or what type of project is involved.

The problem is communication. In freelancing online, you are more often to step into a transaction with someone who may be from a different country, not speak your language as their first language, or even have similar religious beliefs.

It is important for both parties to remain professional and courteous. If a buyer or even the freelancer is rude from the get go of the project, it might not turn out to be a successful tranaction. OR, the project is completed and both parties never speak again.

Freelance Etiquette For the Buyer:

Remain professional. Thoroughly check the freelancer’s portfolio and make a fair and educated decision. If there are any questions, ask right away. It is better to ask them before the negotiations are completed, rather than remain confused and question later when the project has already began.

It is important to make sure that you as a buyer remain in good standing with your freelancer as a lot of the freelance sites offer ways for you to be rated and receive feedback. Also, think about it – your profile on those freelancer sites can be found on the search engines. SO if you have a company website associated with your freelancer site, you might be hurting your business reputation as an outsourcer.

There will be freelancers out there who are real duds, but the ones who are good, normally go above and beyond what the project requires.

Think quality rather than dirt cheap, but be smart about it. Freelancers have to make a living somehow. Be thoughtful on how long the project may take, how much effort may be involved, and even how much the cost of living it currently- even at minimum wage. In the case you are a regular outsourcing company, you may want to may sure you are charging your clients enough so you can pay your service provider adequately.

Last of all, buyer’s should be open minded of suggestions from their freelancer. It may be something more effective. At least make sure the freelancer knows you are taking their advice into consideration. While it is your site and you have your own agenda, some things might be better when new ideas are applied. It might not hurt to ask ahead of time what suggestions your freelancer has. It can actually tell you how knowledgeable they are. For example, in web design, if the freelancer can explain in detail how to approach they will apply certain methods to complete specific parts of project that are challenging, it really really is reassuring for the buyer.

Freelance Etiquette for the Freelancer

Remain professional. Yep, had to say it. It works both ways. While you do want to make the deal, make sure to give the buyer some type of outline on your work method. They want to be assured you are going to complete their project to their expectations.

Be open minded. If you cannot, do not even continue trying to make the deal. If you are not open minded about the project, especially in web design, then you do not have enough experience in design nor conducting business.

Be honest! This is a big one. There are so many “horror” stories and complaints out there about some of the freelancers that failed or even conned others. Make sure to be upfront about yourself and your methods. You could even face legal strife if something goes wrong because you were not truthful!

Charge honestly, but do not let yourself get steamrolled over.. Some of the freelance sites out there, there are a lot of people looking for very affordable service providers. It is necessary that while you have to charge to making a living, that you might want reflect on how much time you will actually be working on a project. A lot of the freelancers are usually people who have not gone mainstream. What is meant by “going mainstream”, in relation to a web designer, is that the designer has constant stream of clients and referrals that keep them from taking smaller side projects on the competitive freelance boards – they no longer really have to fight for projects.

The buyer is paying you to do a project for them – not a website that is yours that you got money to make. Some freelancers get so wrapped up and emotional about their work and forget- it is NOT their site; it is the client’s site. Make it how they want it to be. If you give them suggestions and they choose not to take your advice, then let it be. In the case you are right about your advice and the client changes their mind later, they may employ you again to make the changes.

Kind of like Burger King’s little slogan – “Have It Your Way.” Let the client have it their way in the end.

Overall, both sides of the freelance project must come together to make sure the task is done.

Have you ever had a bad negotiation as a buyer or a freelancer? – What happened?
What suggestions do you have for both sides of the freelance negotiation?

Since the Internet came on the mainstream scene in the mid 1990s, it has literally exploded with marketers eager to tap into the world-wide market.  Working from home has long been a tempting career move for many, and even more so now that the unemployment rate in many countries is at record levels.  Even many of you who have jobs are fearful of lay-offs or termination and making money online seems a viable option as a full-time job.  But before you decide to join the stampede into online entrepreneurship, there are a few things you should be aware of.  Even though you may only wish to make some extra money online, it can turn into a rat race which will overwhelm you if you are not careful.

In any business, success is never guaranteed but with strict adherence to some tried and true principles, your chances will be greatly enhanced.  You must create a strong business plan detailing the expenses you will have, how you will make money, and how your business can succeed in the current depressed economy.  This article gives you information on four important factors to help you get your internet business off on the right foot and keep it thriving without taking up all your time and jeopardizing your current lifestyle.

1.    Assemble a Team of Mentors

You will need experts in the fields of technology, web design, finance, taxes and online marketing.  You will want to assemble a team of people who have experience in internet based business, who have ‘been there, done that’ and will give you advice on what works and what doesn’t.  When you begin, make sure you have identified your own weaknesses, and seek out friends and mentors that are experts in those fields.  Please do not look for advisors. Look for mentors. The difference is that a mentor has already been successful in what you want to achieve. These people are hard to find. The world is full of internet marketing “advisors” who have never made enough consistent income to subsidise a day-time job, telling other people how to quite their jobs and start an internet business. Find people who know about Adwords advertising, internet traffic, SEO strategy and Social Media.  Get the best help you can get. Many times you can get that help for free. Having a team will save you doing everything yourself like an employee who works on overtime with little or no pay.

2.    Put your Business on Auto-Pilot

There are some aspects of online businesses which can virtually ‘run themselves’.  Online retailers can automate web platforms, content management and also communication systems and distribution.  Making good use of modern technology will provide efficient management of much of the day to day tasks thus freeing up your precious time.  This is where your team of mentors will literally save you – save you making big and costly mistakes that will ruin your business.

3.    Offline Work Can Be Outsourced

Since online businesses usually involve selling of some sort, you will also have a lot of offline work as well.  Your product will involve storage and distribution and possible other work as well.  You must set up the necessary infrastructure for these things before you can sell anything.  This part of your business is crucial to your business’s reputation and growth; be sure you hire a well established and dependable company who will enhance your business, not tear it down.

4.    A Virtual Assistant Can Be a Virtual Lifesaver

Now that your online platform has been outsourced, you will need a manager to keep your account relations.  Contrary to a traditional business manager, you can hire a Virtual Assistant which can handle those duties from anywhere in the world.  There are many qualified persons available for hire who can handle all your administration tasks online.  These can be located and hired through several online agencies such as elance.  Hiring a good VA is a key element in running your successful online business and not letting it monopolize your life.

Remember, you want to have a business; you don’t want a business to have you!  I hope the advice given here will be of benefit to you when planning your internet business so it will indeed be a full-time business that only takes a part-time effort on your part.

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I meet with a lot of local and area clients, and one thing they love to have over their website is some type of control. They want to be able to maintain or have access to maintain their website. They want to be able to do a lot of things.

They also, once they get the tools they need that give them control, shut themselves off from further progress. Case in point, I worked for a local business that sold Medigap insurance and maintained a network of the small company’s websites. I set them up using WordPress and gave the owner the tools and directions in maintaining.

However, since I also was the webmaster, I was expected to maintain. The problem is that the owner was so focused on the website, he forgot on huge thing: getting the word out there and connecting with potential customers.

My job description did not include social media consulting or to market his websites, but I advised him from the start that just having a website was only part of the battle. Believe me, he was getting a good deal on employing me and paying me per hour for cheap, but I was really surprised that he was not hungry enough to market his site or take the advice I had to heart.

Because of the issues with Health Care reform in the United States, he had to lay off quite a few people and I was one of them. I approached him later and he is now selling any type of insurance he can. It is unfortunate for him because he relied so much on print marketing and just having a website up. Now that is gone – he sold the site to another person.

I want to emphasize that having a website gives you no control. You have to take up the reigns and market your site online and optimize your site through SEO to try to connect with others. It might take rubbing elbows with a lot of people, but that it the biggest struggle any business will have. Having a business online or offline is the same thing when it comes to getting clients.

Be smart and find out how to market your website. If you are a success offline, then use those skills to do the same online.

Are you still having troubles marketing your website? Are you reaching your potential audience? Are you investing the time or even enough money to make sure your site is helping you follow through after reaching your audience?