Last week I visited a local Michigan restaurant to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. As soon as I walked through the door I was greeted a life size cut out of a gentlemen in a suit handing me a sandwich. This overly large cardboard advertisement was for a local financial institution promoting their services - in the lobby of a restaurant. And best yet, the sandwich was named after the bank. Think I'm kidding? I'm not. Look to the right to see the ad from the bank's website. I could ... Read More
Blogging
Liberate Yourself With a HubSpot to WordPress Migration
Are you an existing HubSpot customer? Are you thinking about canceling the service? Are you afraid to liberate yourself because you’re not exactly sure what HubSpot alternatives are available? Or maybe you’re considering signing up for HubSpot and you’re weighing the software’s cost versus benefits. Are you concerned that you don’t really know what you’re getting yourself it and there may be some downside you’ve not yet considered? In either scenario, you’re not alone. I’ve talked to a lot ... Read More
Just Do It: Three Words That Can Help You Start a Blog and Make Money
I frequently receive emails and calls from people who want to make the leap into online marketing. They have grandiose dreams of blogging their way to fortunes. They have hopes and dreams of finding riches through internet marketing. As I read these emails or speak to these people, my mind pictures the young hopeful actress staring at the Hollywood sign or the hopeful gambler walking into a Vegas casino. They are eager, hopeful, and a bit unprepared. How Do You Start a Blog and Make ... Read More
Creating a Corporate Blog That Sells
Did you know that businesses receive 55% more website visitors if they have an active corporate blog? Did you know that companies who blog at least twenty times per month generate four times more leads? I actually find those HubSpot statistics low and think the actual numbers are much higher. But even at these numbers it is really hard to ignore the value of corporate blogs. Corporate Blog Goals A corporate blog is designed to highlight your company’s industry knowledge. It allows you ... Read More
Introducing Joshua: a Genesis Blog Theme
We’re happy to announce the release of Joshua, the newest blogging template added to our Genesis theme store. This Genesis child theme was designed for bloggers who want to use images to help tell their story. We’ve set the Joshua theme demo up as a travel blog, but in reality it could be used for any type of blog that places an emphasis on images. The home page rotator and inner page headers are designed to keep the visitors’ eye focus on the images. Similar to our Lisa Marie theme, this ... Read More
Friday’s Marketing Roundup: Good Reads from the Week of April 26th
It's Friday and that means it's time for another weekly roundup post! We have gathered together some of our favorite posts from the past week. You will find interesting reads on web design and how rank naturally in the search engines. You will also find great information on how you can make your site more Google friendly and even prepare for the next Google update. Let's get to it... WordPress and Web Design 3 Steps For Designing The Ultimate Landing Page - This post is focused on the ... Read More
Blogging is About Finding the Voice Within You
If you're new to blogging, it can be intimidating. When you first start, writing can feel like an overwhelming task. And some people, no matter how hard they try, are not cut out for blogging. I believe those people are the exception and not the rule. I teach a number of internet marketing boot camps and blogging is something we cover in all three workshops. Many of my students tend to freeze up when the subject of blogging arises, because it is not something that comes easily to them. And ... Read More
Content Creation: How Does Your Mind Manage the Process?
When it comes to the process of content creation, everyone has a different thought process and their minds work differently. That means the strategy and process of content marketing can be different by company or individual. I've been writing web content for over a decade and while my process has evolved with the changes of the SEO industry, my fundamental work flow has not because it is based on how I think and how my mind processes tasks and data. I realize my strategy and process is not ... Read More
Online Marketing: Knowledge is Power
I'm a big advocate of small businesses learning about online marketing. I believe knowledge is power and I feel it is best for companies to understand fundamentals so they can manage some or all of their marketing in-house. If they can't manage marketing in-house, this knowledge will help them better manage their freelancers or outside consultants. This month I held a boot camp for an organization in California and I was reminded of this philosophy and why it is so critical. My training ... Read More
What Carrie Bradshaw Taught Me About Marketing
This week I had an epiphany. I realized that I learned quite a bit of my marketing knowledge from Carrie Bradshaw. Carrie, the lead character from Sex in the City, was one of the most popular TV characters back in the 90’s. She was as smart as she was interesting. And while I didn’t know it at the time, Carrie knew marketing. Carrie also knew branding and blogging and design. Had she been a real character in this decade, she would have been a natural expert in the world of internet ... Read More
Web Design Produces 353% Traffic Increase in Two Months
Many of my website design prospects frequently ask me “what they can expect” when we discuss converting their static website into a dynamic WordPress website. I answer them honestly by saying it depends on a lot of variables because no two projects are exactly alike. While this answer is not a concrete one, it is the best one I can give because I don’t yet know the variables. What I can tell them is that there are great examples of success when the process goes right. Does SEO Really ... Read More
The Girlfriend’s Guide to Blogging
This week I received an email from a longtime girlfriend who is interested in launching a blog. I was actually surprised by this, because Mary (name has been changed to protect the innocent) has a full-time job already and it is not marketing related. She had an idea for a blog and wanted advice on how to get a blog started. My girlfriend is not alone. I receive dozens of emails each week from people wanting blogs and websites created for their “idea” and I can tell at least 75% have no ... Read More
The Indisputable Power of the Blog Post
Today is vacation. I sit alone, quietly drinking coffee, as the rest of my family and our friends sleep. It is our annual family vacation up north and this is the first morning. As I sit with my cup enjoying the sunrise over the lake, I begin reading Engage by Brian Solis. I am bothered. Not by the book, but by a conversation I had with a prospect a week ago. Yes a week ago. The woman was an SEO referral from another marketer I know in Detroit. We had a wonderful conversation about her company’s ... Read More
Twenty Tips for Creating the Perfect Blog Post
When I said I blogged five years ago, people looked at me as if I was crazy. Well I was, but blogging didn't drive me to insanity. Today it is a bit more mainstream and bloggers are everywhere. I actually like blogging. I enjoy it and it has been a huge help to me professionally. Last weekend I attended WordCamp Detroit and I was surrounded by bloggers. I wasn't prepared for that one, as I use WordPress for website design and I guess I assume everyone in the room would too. Was I wrong. ... Read More
Ten Steps to Quality Link Building and Strong Organic SEO
Whenever I create a new website for a client, I always tell them the website is only the core foundation of strong SEO. Strong SEO requires a solid, well planned, and long-term link building campaign. Interestingly enough, as I prepare for a live Q&A sessions for my friends over at JuJuQ on the subject, I found myself an email to a client nagging him about building inbound links for a brand new website we launched last Wednesday. Inbound links are a huge part of SEO and since I’m an ... Read More
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