When you’ve just started out online and are looking to give your website a boost, there is something you can do for free that could make a big difference.

There are people all over the world hungry for knowledge in every industry sector. In this article I’ll look at a few of the best sites to use and what benefit answering questions online can bring to your business. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting a business from scratch can be daunting and time consuming. Back when I began my online adventure, there was very little advice around on what to do and what not to do.

In this post I’ll share five quick online do’s and don’ts for start-ups which can be used as a handy checklist when trying to get your business web-ready. Read the rest of this entry »

In this article, I’m going to look at three ways you can expose yourself to other business owners online without spending any money.

Many of my marketing clients are new to business and feel uneasy about presenting in public or giving talks at networking events. With this in mind, I decided to write this post to help out others who are in a similar situation. Read the rest of this entry »

In a typical week I get some beautifully designed email newsletters delivered to my inbox, but unfortunately I get some grotesque looking ones too.

The ones that aren’t visually appealing usually get deleted without me even reading the first line of text.

If companies can’t be bothered putting the effort into the design of their email newsletters, I’m not going to take them seriously. Read the rest of this entry »

Lots of business owners I speak to use Twitter. They have varying degrees of success – some have developed strategies, while others just play at it and don’t really give it their full attention as a business tool.

I have come up with three useful activities to do every month to make sure your Twitter account is a lean, mean, social machine. Read the rest of this entry »

So many start-ups and small business owners see the cost in copywriting rather than appreciating its value.

As I’ve written in other articles previously, I would always recommend hiring a copywriter to write your website text or any other marketing materials.

There are many copywriting craters just waiting to swallow you up if you decide to write your own content, and I’ll take a look at five of these below. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure you don’t need me to talk about the benefits of business networking face-to-face. However, in my experience, people often miss out on potential opportunities by not following up properly (or at all) online afterwards.

In this article I’ll give you a few simple tips for effective following up, as well as the one thing you absolutely MUST avoid. Read the rest of this entry »

In the course of my work as a small business online marketing consultant, the problem of false search engine rankings often rears its ugly head. What do I mean by this? Basically it’s when website owners think their rankings are better than they actually are.

Read on to discover why this happens and how to check if it’s happening to your site. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re new to online marketing, you may decide to work with an SEO company to help get your website found by your target market in the search engine results.

I previously wrote an article with some important questions to ask before hiring an SEO company, but in this post I’ll focus on how to manage the relationship when you’ve agreed to go ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

Many small business owners think they can write their own content and try to save money by not hiring a copywriter.

In my experience, probably around 95% of small business websites could be significantly improved by having a professional copywriter work on the content.

If you’re one of the savvy business owners who appreciates the positive difference a good copywriter can make in terms of SEO and online sales/enquiries, this article looks at how you can work together to achieve the best results. Read the rest of this entry »