My Father owned a business for nearly 20 years. I would call it a successful business and it allowed him to retire. He had his difficulty and numerous struggles but he fought through them. As a kid and as I grew up, he always has stressed, "its about the people you hire and have work for you". It always made perfect sense to me and I had a first hand view of the many cast of characters he had hired through the years.
Our goal is too truly take this approach to the highest level possible. It's tough for new businesses to be able to afford the highest quality employees and sometimes you have to do your best with the hand you are dealt. It is one thing knowing that a business needs to hire "competent people" and comprehending it. It's in the comprehending it that you truly apply the philosophy. If you have an employee that keeps dragging behind on projects and is always late or has a attitude problem....etc. Move on.
It is not the business owners job in my opinion to get emotional about the wrong employee. An exceptional employee is a different scenario. Be grateful for those in your organization that truly are fantastic. Thin your business of the ones that aren't at your first chance.
The strength of your business is the most important.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Be thankful for your family
As a small business owner my own family is very important to my success. My spouse was 100% behind my idea to start a advertising agency and walk away from my previous job as a advertising consultant in the Yellow Page industry. Going into business for yourself is the biggest risk/endeavor human beings confront as they try to support themselves and their family financially. The risk of the unknown is not for everyone and I have been so thankful for the 100% commitment my own spouse has provided me as we have continued to grow our business.
I often work late hours, on weekends and at times have to take business calls during important family scheduled time. My family always comes first, yet knowing my spouse supports my business allows me to also be able to take care of my customers which is so important to my companies own business plan.
I also realize that some folks aren't as fortunate as I am. I know scores of small business owners who were married and their wife or husband were so frozen by financial fear that it hindered the success and growth of their business venture.
Hopefully like myself, you too are blessed with a supporting family and extended family that is rooting and cheering for your success. It's surely a wild ride but a lot better than getting mixed up in the middle level managed confusion of corporate America or working for a company just to pay the bills. My faith is in my business and I feel fortunate to be apart of a goal that has a valued purpose for the local small business owner.
I often work late hours, on weekends and at times have to take business calls during important family scheduled time. My family always comes first, yet knowing my spouse supports my business allows me to also be able to take care of my customers which is so important to my companies own business plan.
I also realize that some folks aren't as fortunate as I am. I know scores of small business owners who were married and their wife or husband were so frozen by financial fear that it hindered the success and growth of their business venture.
Hopefully like myself, you too are blessed with a supporting family and extended family that is rooting and cheering for your success. It's surely a wild ride but a lot better than getting mixed up in the middle level managed confusion of corporate America or working for a company just to pay the bills. My faith is in my business and I feel fortunate to be apart of a goal that has a valued purpose for the local small business owner.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Go For it ! Part 2
"Take chances with your life. Be creative, go for it!. You only live once. At the end of your life, I guarantee you, that you will achieve more by going for it."
Go for it all !
Go for it all !
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Customers want to do business with someone they like.
As a consumer, no one wants to do business with a scrooge. They want to interact with people they like and trust. Make your customers feel comfortable and extert all effort to provide them the best service possible. Someone right now is looking for your type of customer and they are willing to convince them of their superior products and services at a lower price than they are paying now. Do something extra for your customers.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Failure to Market & Advertise Your Business
Is like going to the gym and watching people work out.
Successful businesses workout they don't watch businesses workout.
Successful businesses workout they don't watch businesses workout.
Happy Ending Story.....
Do you forsee a happy ending with your business?
Its a great motivation to be a part of a business plan that has a vision of a happy ending.
To know you are apart of something that has real meaning.
So often we hang on long after we should have moved on.
Life is short...head in the direction of a happy ending.
As one door closes another opens.
Its a great motivation to be a part of a business plan that has a vision of a happy ending.
To know you are apart of something that has real meaning.
So often we hang on long after we should have moved on.
Life is short...head in the direction of a happy ending.
As one door closes another opens.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The New Deal
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." -President Franklin D Roosevelt.
Businesses make such rash decisions when it comes to economics and the fear of financial decline. It is widely known that Roosevelt, "Saved capitalism in just eight days". He was forward thinking, aggressive and not afraid to take chances. His predecessor Herbert Hoover was much more conservative and his approach drove the United States economy into The Great Depression and a unemployment rate of 25%. What kind of business owner are you? Roosevelt on the other hand, was more liberal and took forward thinking to a new level. Roosevelt’s leadership empowered the US economy throughout the rest of the 20th century.
Jump forward to modern times. History is our greatest teacher. So often, business owners become too conservative when the economy tightens its belt like it has recently. In a lot of ways, our banking institutions repeated similar mistakes as those that transpired during the 1920's. Corporate decisions are currently effecting each mans financial security just like they did nearly a century ago.
The moral of my story is to be forward thinking. Don't follow the herd. Go out and get customers and market your business. Make good advertising decisions and grab market share. Don't be frozen by fear and unjustified terror. Wake up each day and work harder than you expected to that day. Put in that extra effort. Make sure your customers are happy and being taken care of.
It is also possible that somewhere out there, one of your competitors is working harder than you to get customers. If as a business owner you end each day earlier and with less effort than the day before you are only hindering your own success. Be the business owner that works the hardest and markets their business efficiently.
Never forget that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Businesses make such rash decisions when it comes to economics and the fear of financial decline. It is widely known that Roosevelt, "Saved capitalism in just eight days". He was forward thinking, aggressive and not afraid to take chances. His predecessor Herbert Hoover was much more conservative and his approach drove the United States economy into The Great Depression and a unemployment rate of 25%. What kind of business owner are you? Roosevelt on the other hand, was more liberal and took forward thinking to a new level. Roosevelt’s leadership empowered the US economy throughout the rest of the 20th century.
Jump forward to modern times. History is our greatest teacher. So often, business owners become too conservative when the economy tightens its belt like it has recently. In a lot of ways, our banking institutions repeated similar mistakes as those that transpired during the 1920's. Corporate decisions are currently effecting each mans financial security just like they did nearly a century ago.
The moral of my story is to be forward thinking. Don't follow the herd. Go out and get customers and market your business. Make good advertising decisions and grab market share. Don't be frozen by fear and unjustified terror. Wake up each day and work harder than you expected to that day. Put in that extra effort. Make sure your customers are happy and being taken care of.
It is also possible that somewhere out there, one of your competitors is working harder than you to get customers. If as a business owner you end each day earlier and with less effort than the day before you are only hindering your own success. Be the business owner that works the hardest and markets their business efficiently.
Never forget that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Importance of Call Tracking
In our opinion, call tracking is a key component of any successful advertising campaign whether large or small. Too often, small business owners have no idea where their leads are coming from and what their return on investment is regarding advertising budget. Implementing call tracking numbers is the first step in solidifying the direction your marketing is heading. Most companies are too cheap to invest $100 dollars or less a month on call tracking software or systems that will manage your media usage. We are proud to offer this service and to help people to gain a even larger return on their investment of advertising dollars.
In the end, it will allow you to dump what isn't and hasn't worked for a long time and allow you to fine tune and grow in directions that are working or in totally new direction that you were never able to tap into.
iLocal also offers a customer service program that will help you to go back through your marketing history and contact customers and use time tested information to gather data from your customers. This also is a great public relations product that shows your customers that you are concerned about your product and employee interaction with your consumer. Call tracking is a huge part of the service we offer for all of our clients. Its up to the business owner in the end to see the obvious benefit of this type of service.
In the end, it will allow you to dump what isn't and hasn't worked for a long time and allow you to fine tune and grow in directions that are working or in totally new direction that you were never able to tap into.
iLocal also offers a customer service program that will help you to go back through your marketing history and contact customers and use time tested information to gather data from your customers. This also is a great public relations product that shows your customers that you are concerned about your product and employee interaction with your consumer. Call tracking is a huge part of the service we offer for all of our clients. Its up to the business owner in the end to see the obvious benefit of this type of service.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Trying to build a website yourself
In the small business world, trying to build a website yourself can be comprehended in these ways:
It is worth your time to have someone that is good at search engine optimization, at least look at and consult with you regarding your website code. Don't be to cheap to get a good website built. Your competition is paying a lot of money so that your business isn't called. Consumers are looking for that number they can call first and you need to have the opportunity to be one of the businesses that is being contacted. Invest in the best site possible. Just because a company will offer you a $150 website doesn't mean it will be able to help your business survive within the small business world. In my opinion, it takes at least a 30 page site to even get anything that would begin to be competitive in this current market.
-iLocal Staff
- Son is building my site
- Your wife is building your site
- A friend is building my site
- "I have someone that will be handling that for me"
- "We are working on our website"
- "My sister builds websites for a living and she is going to help us"
- "I am building my site, I got it covered"
- "My daughters boyfriends mom is building the site for our business"
It is worth your time to have someone that is good at search engine optimization, at least look at and consult with you regarding your website code. Don't be to cheap to get a good website built. Your competition is paying a lot of money so that your business isn't called. Consumers are looking for that number they can call first and you need to have the opportunity to be one of the businesses that is being contacted. Invest in the best site possible. Just because a company will offer you a $150 website doesn't mean it will be able to help your business survive within the small business world. In my opinion, it takes at least a 30 page site to even get anything that would begin to be competitive in this current market.
-iLocal Staff
Friday, October 23, 2009
Now is not the time to advertise.
I don't agree with this tighness regarding peoples economic perception. We basically are at the peak of advertisers who have declined their presence in Print Media and Yellow Page advertising. The saddest part about our economy is how important a sales force has been for both sides of the isle. Just imagine how deep this economy would have dropped had the numerous media's salesman not been out on the street prying belief and usage of print media. There are a lot of businesses that wanted to cancel everything and were advised not to and they are very happy that they didn't make a long term decision based on worries about their short term circumstances.
Please see the article below and a link to the entire article.
In a recession, the first dollars that a company usually cuts come from the advertising budget. Advertising in a recession is actually a smart business move to grow your business now and for the future.
McGraw-Hill Research conducted a study of U.S. recessions from 1980-1985. Out of the 600 business-to-business companies analyzed, the ones who continued to advertise during the 1981-1982 recession hit a 256-percent growth by 1985 over their competitors that eliminated or decreased spending.
American Business Press analyzed 143 companies during the economic downturn back in 1974 and 1975. Companies that advertised in those years saw the highest growth in sales and net income during the recession and the two years that followed.
http://advertising.about.com/od/smallbusinesscampaigns/a/recessionadvert.htm
Please see the article below and a link to the entire article.
In a recession, the first dollars that a company usually cuts come from the advertising budget. Advertising in a recession is actually a smart business move to grow your business now and for the future.
McGraw-Hill Research conducted a study of U.S. recessions from 1980-1985. Out of the 600 business-to-business companies analyzed, the ones who continued to advertise during the 1981-1982 recession hit a 256-percent growth by 1985 over their competitors that eliminated or decreased spending.
American Business Press analyzed 143 companies during the economic downturn back in 1974 and 1975. Companies that advertised in those years saw the highest growth in sales and net income during the recession and the two years that followed.
http://advertising.about.com/od/smallbusinesscampaigns/a/recessionadvert.htm
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Go For it!
People are motivated by two things.
1. Gain Benefit
2. Prevent loss
People will work 10 times harder to prevent loss than to gain a benefit.
Achieve your goals by extracting your energy in the right direction.
-iLocal Staff
1. Gain Benefit
2. Prevent loss
People will work 10 times harder to prevent loss than to gain a benefit.
Achieve your goals by extracting your energy in the right direction.
-iLocal Staff
Monday, October 19, 2009
Jumping Over the Google Sandbox
It's never easy for newcomers to enter a market and there are barriers of different kinds. For newcomers to the world of search engines, the barrier is called a sandbox – your site stays there until it gets mature enough to be allowed to the Top Positions club. Although there is no direct confirmation of the existence of a sandbox, Google employees have implied it and SEO experts have seen in practice that new sites, no matter how well optimized, don't rank high on Google, while on MSN and Yahoo they catch quickly. For Google, the jailing in the sandbox for new sites with new domains is on average 6 months, although it can vary from less than a month to over 8 months.
Read Rest of article if interested at:
http://www.webconfs.com/google-sandbox-article-11.php
iLocal Staff
Read Rest of article if interested at:
http://www.webconfs.com/google-sandbox-article-11.php
iLocal Staff
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Seattle Radio Station Rankings:
Who's on top now
Arbitron has a new way of measuring radio-station audiences. Instead of relying on diaries kept by listeners, it issues Portable People Meters (PPMs) that automatically detect radio signals.
TOP 5 PPM: THE NEW RATINGS REPORTING SYSTEM
PPM (vs. Diary) Station Format
1. (was 5) KPLZ-FM 101.5 Adult contemporary
2. (was 8) KJAQ-FM 96.5 Adult contemporary
3. (was 10) KRWM-FM 106.9 Soft rock
4. (was 5, tie) KJR-FM 95.7 Classic rock
5. (was 5, tie) KCMS-FM 105.3 Christian
TOP 5 DIARY: THE OLD RATINGS REPORTING SYSTEM
Diary (vs. PPM) Station Format
1. (now 7) KZOK-FM 102.5 Classic rock
2. (now 6) KISW-FM 99.9 Rock
3. (now 17) KIRO-AM* 710, KIRO-FM 97.3 News / talk
4. (now 8) KMPS-FM 94.1 Country
5. (now 5) KCMS-FM 105.3 Christian
5. (now 1) KPLZ-FM, 101.5 Adult contemporary
5. (now 4) KJR-FM 95.7 Classic rock
* AM station changed to ESPN sports April 6.
*Other notable changes
KTTH-AM 770, conservative talk, dropped from 9 in old system to 21 in PPM.
KIRO-FM 97.3, news/talk, former 710-AM programming, is now 19 using PPM.
Arbitron has a new way of measuring radio-station audiences. Instead of relying on diaries kept by listeners, it issues Portable People Meters (PPMs) that automatically detect radio signals.
TOP 5 PPM: THE NEW RATINGS REPORTING SYSTEM
PPM (vs. Diary) Station Format
1. (was 5) KPLZ-FM 101.5 Adult contemporary
2. (was 8) KJAQ-FM 96.5 Adult contemporary
3. (was 10) KRWM-FM 106.9 Soft rock
4. (was 5, tie) KJR-FM 95.7 Classic rock
5. (was 5, tie) KCMS-FM 105.3 Christian
TOP 5 DIARY: THE OLD RATINGS REPORTING SYSTEM
Diary (vs. PPM) Station Format
1. (now 7) KZOK-FM 102.5 Classic rock
2. (now 6) KISW-FM 99.9 Rock
3. (now 17) KIRO-AM* 710, KIRO-FM 97.3 News / talk
4. (now 8) KMPS-FM 94.1 Country
5. (now 5) KCMS-FM 105.3 Christian
5. (now 1) KPLZ-FM, 101.5 Adult contemporary
5. (now 4) KJR-FM 95.7 Classic rock
* AM station changed to ESPN sports April 6.
*Other notable changes
KTTH-AM 770, conservative talk, dropped from 9 in old system to 21 in PPM.
KIRO-FM 97.3, news/talk, former 710-AM programming, is now 19 using PPM.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
www.iLocalOnline.com Consultants research www.WebConfs.com
Spiders don't read images but they do read their textual descriptions in the tag, so if you have images on your page, fill in the tag with some keywords about them.
Also:
Links - internal, inbound, outbound
Anchor text of inbound links
As discussed in the Keywords section, this is one of the most important factors for good rankings. It is best if you have a keyword in the anchor text but even if you don't, it is still OK
Origin of inbound links
Besides the anchor text, it is important if the site that links to you is a reputable one or not. Generally sites with greater Google PR are considered reputable.
Links from similar sites
Having links from similar sites is very, very useful. It indicates that the competition is voting for you and you are popular within your topical community.
Links from .edu and .gov sites
These links are precious because .edu and .gov sites are more reputable than .com. .biz, .info, etc. domains. Additionally, such links are hard to obtain.
Number of backlinks
Generally the more, the better. But the reputation of the sites that link to you is more important than their number. Also important is their anchor text, is there a keyword in it, how old are they, etc.
Also:
Links - internal, inbound, outbound
Anchor text of inbound links
As discussed in the Keywords section, this is one of the most important factors for good rankings. It is best if you have a keyword in the anchor text but even if you don't, it is still OK
Origin of inbound links
Besides the anchor text, it is important if the site that links to you is a reputable one or not. Generally sites with greater Google PR are considered reputable.
Links from similar sites
Having links from similar sites is very, very useful. It indicates that the competition is voting for you and you are popular within your topical community.
Links from .edu and .gov sites
These links are precious because .edu and .gov sites are more reputable than .com. .biz, .info, etc. domains. Additionally, such links are hard to obtain.
Number of backlinks
Generally the more, the better. But the reputation of the sites that link to you is more important than their number. Also important is their anchor text, is there a keyword in it, how old are they, etc.
iLocal Marketing adds Blogger.com Feature
Marketing is essential to any businesses survival and growth. We here at iLocal are big fans of the blogger.com features and have used it in our own personal lives. We have added this feature to our own www.iLocalOnline.com site because of the constant marketing and site refreshes blogger delivers to any search engine that spiders and crawls nightly. This process will help facilitate or index www.iLocalonline.com content to each search engines data base on a regular basis. It also will add another internal link to our site which will essentially put our site one step further towards the goal of complete optimization. Feel free to email or call with any questions.
-iLocal Marketing
-iLocal Marketing
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