The web visitors who are the most interested in your business (and are therefore the most likely to contact you) are returning visitors. A return visitor has come back for a reason. They usually return because they saw something they liked on the first visit and want to learn more.

Here are a few ways to get people to re-visit your site:

• Add a Blog to your site. It is crucial that you post interesting & NON-PROMOTIONAL articles to your site. Post them consistently and frequently so that someone who re-visits your Blog can expect something new.
• Keep a list of interested prospects in some type of database. On a regular basis, send them a personalized email with new and exciting things that are happening in your business directing them back to your site.
• The very best way to get people to come back to your site is by sending out regular email newsletters with new and interesting information. Invest in a nice incentive-based opt-in form on your site to incentivize unique visitors to sign up for your email list.

The Blog is a very important tool since it can be used for all 3 of the ideas above.

All this being said, unique visitors are still critical—because, with some good preparation on your part, the unique visitor will turn into a repeat visitor, and ultimately may become a client.

Of course, getting unique visitors and traffic to your site is not easy. You may want to invest in an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and/or PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising) program to generate some initial traffic.

Mikel Bruce
Tiny Frog Technologies
San Diego Web Design & SEO

www.tinyfrog.com
888-282-7818

Having worked almost 20 years in marketing I’ve struggled with this process since the beginning. What I’ve discovered is that I am often responsible for creating and re-creating this pattern.

Here’s how it happens. When my business is busy, I spend less time developing new clients. This eventually results in a downturn. Then, when business is slow, I spend extra time reaching out to past clients and prospects, and business tends to pick up.

In addition to the financial ups and downs, this process can also result in an emotional roller coaster. Over the years I have developed a system to circumvent this cycle—and avoid needless suffering.

The system involves the following steps:

1. Spend time every day, no matter what happens, following up with at least a few prospects. It’s very helpful to have a CRM (Client Retention Management) system such as ACT or Salesforce in place for this.
2. Track Revenues and Profit monthly. The simple process of tracking and review can help bring awareness, which is critical.
3. Use an effective and consistent email marketing process to stay in front of your prospects and clients.
4. Create an intention to add complimentary products/services to the ones you offer so you can up-sell to your existing client base. The power of intention tends to encourage the creative part in all of us.
5. Focus on being grateful for what you already have. Gratitude tends to attract more of what you are already grateful for.
6. Invest in some type of search engine marketing process since more and more people are using the search engines to find vendors.

Mikel Bruce
Tiny Frog Technologies
San Diego Web Design & SEO

www.tinyfrog.com
888-282-7818

Branding is a crucial aspect of marketing. Larger companies have huge budgets dedicated to branding – and it is equally important for smaller businesses.

One of the best ways to stay on top of the game in terms of branding is through email marketing.

It’s so simple to do. Anyone can do it if they are willing to dedicate 1-2 hour per month- and the return on investment can be huge.

Branding through e-mail marketing is basically a numbers game. if you have a list of 50 emails it probably won’t have much of an impact. But if your list grows to 500 or even 5000 it could start to account for a good percentage of your business. And anyone can grow their list to 1000+ in a year, with minimal effort.

Here are two tricks to building an email list:

1. Have a nice email opt-in form on your website. The form must be placed in a prominent place on every page on your site. It should draw the eye and be interesting to look at. Additionally, it is crucial that you offer a nice incentive/gift in exchange for your visitor’s email. Most people will no longer give you their email if your form says ‘Sign up for our newsletter…’. Your opt-in form should be tied in with an email service provider such as www.constantcontact.com, and the incentive should be delivered through an auto responder or confirmation page. A good web designer should be able to set all of this up in an hour or two.
2. Collect emails from everyone you meet at every event that you attend. Gather people’s business cards, and let them know that you will send them some information on your product/service.

As your list grows, commit to sending out a monthly email to everyone on your list, with a very short educational article.

Keep the article to one page or less. In fact, the shorter the better- it will make it easier for you to write and easier for them to read.

Post that information in the form of a blog post (you should have a blog on your site.) The only information that the email itself needs to contain is the name of the article/blog post and a link to your blog.

It couldn’t be any easier or cheaper to stay in front of the most important people for your business.

The investment in minimal: just $15-$50 and 1-2 hours a month.

AND- you will be killing several birds with one stone:

1. Branding your business
2. Driving people back to your website
3. Educating your prospects/clients thereby building a relationship with them and becoming an resource for them
4. Increasing your credibility with the search engines by adding more and more pages to your website through your blog posts
5. Building your lists of contacts

Branding through e-mail marketing is truly a no brainer. It would be difficult to find an excuse not to do it!

Mikel Bruce
Tiny Frog Technologies
San Diego Web Design & SEO

www.tinyfrog.com
888-282-7818

The quality part of the equation is based on incorporating keywords into the content. The quantity is basically the amount of text and web pages on your site.

Google and other search engines track the number of pages on your site. This number is factored into the search engine’s relevancy algorithms when deciding where to rank your site.

The only problem is that visitors to your site can be overwhelmed if your site is loaded down with pages linked into your navigation, or if there is too much text.

So, how can please both your website visitors and the search engines at the same time? How can you increase the page count and content without overloading your visitors with information?

One of the best ways is to build a Blog into your site. A Blog is a great way to have total control over adding your own content; what’s more, each time you write a blog post you are essentially creating a new page and therefore increasing your page count.

And, if you incorporate your keywords into your Blog posts, you are killing two birds with one stone by focusing on both quality and quantity.

The other nice benefit of a Blog is that it archives pages and content well. With the pages archived, your site doesn’t appear to be overwhelming, yet the content is very accessible.

A lot of people are intimidated by Blogs because they don’t want to get tied down to having to write Blog posts all of the time and monitor comments.

The easy way out is to write 2-4 short (1/2 page) Blog posts or entries per month on educational topics related to your business- and to set the Blog up so you have to approve the comments. This way they will be sent to your email and you can approve them (or not) whenever you want. This is a great approach to using a Blog, and requires only a few hours per month.

Take note, though, that it is important that your Blog is programmed into your website. An external Blog that is not on the same domain won’t provide you with any of the benefits that have been discussed in this article.

Mikel Bruce
Tiny Frog Technologies
San Diego Web Design & SEO
www.tinyfrog.com
888-282-7818

Even with a strong referral base and a good Internet presence, securing new business can be very difficult without a proactive approach.

Several years ago, I was preparing to invest in a new piece of software, and researched several options. A representative for one of the companies I was considering called me every week to try and get my business.

The representative was very professional. Each time he called he said he was just checking in, and had a new piece of information about the benefits of his product. I didn’t receive any calls from any of his competitors.

Needless to say, I did invest in his company—or more accurately, in him. The product he sold me was very similar to those of his competitors. His wasn’t even the cheapest! But when it came to making the decision, his was the only company that remained in my mind.

This person was doing on a personal level what so many large companies—with huge advertising budgets– do on a mass level: he was branding his product. And with each and every call, he was increasing his brand’s visibility in my mind.

This is why calling on new prospects and following up with them–even via email–is so critical. Each time you make contact, you are establishing and strengthening your brand.

Most people tend to avoid looking for new prospects because it’s rarely any fun. Here are a few tips that you may want to consider in order to be more proactive with your marketing & sales process:

• Invest at least 10% of your time into proactively getting new clients. This can include cold calling, attending networking events, giving presentations, and contacting existing clients for referrals
• Put each new contact that you secure on an email list and send out monthly newsletters with educational information on your service or products.
• Don’t pre-judge your prospects. Quite often you’ll find that the least likely prospects will turn into clients.
• Follow up with each interested prospect once a week; follow up with all prospects at least once a month.
• When following up with prospects, be prepared to offer some new information: a discount, additional benefit, etc…
• Create an effective system to track your contacts.
• Build some type of lead capturing system into your website- preferably an incentive based opt-in that will encourage people to give you their contact information.
• Develop an effective incentive-based referral program.
• Build a blog into your website. Write regular blog posts on the benefits of your service or product. You can also kill two birds with one stone by directing your e-mail newsletter recipients to your blog.

Remember that now is not the time to sit back and wait for business to come to you. In today’s business climate, you must open the door yourself.

Mikel Bruce
Tiny Frog Technologies
San Diego Web Design & SEO
www.tinyfrog.com
888-282-7818

Now, “good luck” can certainly be created by working hard, developing connections, improving sales and marketing skills, and having a quality product or service. But the truth is that, on some level, we can never predict whether we will have enough business to get by, to grow or to thrive.

In my work I often get to speak with business owners who are successful at what they do. And I enjoy getting to talk to them about why they believe they are so successful.

Interestingly enough, many of them attribute their success to having a very strong intention to succeed.

My conversations with them reveal such a level of confidence in their intentions that it transcends faith and borders on certainty.

A client once told me that for many years his business really struggled. Then, one day, he realized that he always had an intention and he never knew it. His intention was to struggle! All of his doubts, the worry he felt, and the anxiety he experienced were the projections of how his intention was manifested in his day-to-day work life.

He said that once he realized this, he committed himself to being much more conscious with his intention. Every single day since, even when he’s not particularly in the mood, he has made an effort to state how and when he wants to succeed.

From the beginning of this shift in his thinking, things were totally different. He experienced more ease and good fortune with each day.

As a business owner I’ve always believed that in order to grow my business, I’d have to pour a lot of money and energy into sales and marketing efforts.

And yet, here’s this client presenting a marketing tactic that requires minimal effort and zero dollars. So, I’ve started to use this technique in a way that works for me – and I am starting to notice that the hope that I used to have about continued success is turning from a feeling into a measurable reality.

Mikel Bruce
Tinyfrog Technologies

San Diego Web Design

www.tinyfrog.com

Time and time again, clients begin the web design conversation with “Once my website is up I want to be on the first page of Google…” Unfortunately, everyone else wants the same thing, so the competition for the first page of Google can be fierce.

Consider these statistics-

• Over 80% of the people searching for just about any product or service are using the Internet
• Over 80% of the people searching on the Internet are using Google
• About 90% of the searchers never leave the first page of a search.

These factors combined add up to one conclusion: getting your site to appear on to the first page of Google is both hugely beneficial and highly necessary for your business. But getting on page one doesn’t just happen by putting up a website.

Google uses fairly complex software programs, called algorithms, to determine where your website ranks for a keyword search. These algorithms basically compare your website against all of the other websites on the Internet competing for the same keywords. They then rank all of the sites based on a variety of factors.

I believe it is crucial to have an idea what these factors are in order to have any success in getting your website optimized.

Of course, Google doesn’t actually advertise what these factors are–their algorithms are kept secret. But many of the factors have become common knowledge.

Here is a list of some of the known factors:

• Integrating your keyword phrases into the text of your website along with the meta tags (HTML) in your website
• Adding Headline tags to the keywords in your website
• The quantity of content on your website
• The quality of content on your website relative to your keywords
• The age of your domain name
• Integrating keywords into your domain name
• Dynamic Content- Keeping your website content updated regularly
• The number of websites that link back to your website- also known as Link Popularity

The good news is that almost all of the factors listed above, referred to as ‘on-site’ optimization factors, can generally be controlled directly by you when building and updating your website.

The only exception is the final factor, Link Popularity, which requires the cooperation of other websites. This is referred to as an ‘off-site’ optimization factor. This process of building your in-bound links is known as ‘Link Building,’ and it is among the top reasons someone would hire an SEO consultant.

Getting your website to rank optimally in Google and other search engines doesn’t happen overnight. And if you don’t pay any attention to it, it probably won’t happen at all.

Focusing on your ranking can be a huge benefit to your business. Take the time to learn about this process, and you’ll have taken a big step toward creating a profitable web presence for the long haul.

Mikel Bruce
Tinyfrog Technologies

San Diego Web Design

www.tinyfrog.com

I have heard similar comments from others on numerous occasions, and find that I make decisions in the same way. Of course, the quality of a website doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the size, quality, or professionalism of a company. But in today’s market it is perceived to be one of the most important aspects in communicating that a company is in fact strong and professional.

The reason is that over 80% of the people searching for any service or product are now using the web. We have trained ourselves to judge a business by the quality of what we see first- which in most cases is the website.

This being said a company can actually create a perception of a large, successful and professional business by setting up a website that presents those attributes.

Because everyone has different tastes, your website may not please every person, every time. But there are certain standards to keep in mind, which will allow you to create a positive perception and avoid a negative one.

1. Avoid too much flash on your website- A flash photo slideshow, if done well, can enhance the appearance of your website; too much flash animation can be a distraction.
2. Remember white space- Try to avoid too much color. It’s best to have your primary text over a white background. Also avoid too much color in your fonts-stick with a black font with a single color for headline text. White looks clean; too much color can be a distraction.
3. Avoid the build-your-own website programs- You get what you pay. The cheap or free website programs usually result in cheap-looking website. Because these programs expect non-designers to design a website, they end up looking home-built rather than professional.
4. Use a Central Navigation System- Try to avoid multiple navigation systems or menus on your website. A single, strategically placed menu that is located on the same place on every page is very important. There is nothing more frustrating than getting lost in a website trying to find a page you were at previously. If you have a lot of pages use a drop down menu.
5. Avoid using too much text on your website- Your website is not a salesperson and is not designed to sell your service. Many people try to give as much information as possible about their service or product. Unless you have an e-commerce site, your website should focus on providing just enough information to get someone to contact you. The attention span of the average user is extremely short and in many cases if you have a lot of text they probably won’t read any of it.
6. Incorporate an educational portal- Keeping the information limited is very important for the majority of the site- but some people will visit your website for information and in many cases the people that re-visit your site will come back for new information. Designate one area on your site for information such as articles, white papers, etc… A blog is a great place to archive this information. The search engines also appreciate a site with a lot of information that gets updated regularly.
7. A picture is worth 1000 words- Each picture that you put on your site will speak volumes about the web page it’s on. Try to use professional images whenever possible. Stock images can be a great substitute and can be very inexpensive (check out www.istockphoto.com). Like text, pictures should be used sparingly- a good rule of thumb is one picture per page unless it’s a photo gallery or bio page.
8. Consider a copywriter- The quality of your text is as important as the quantity. To cut costs, you can write the content and hire a copywriter to review and edit that content. At the very least get a copywriter to review the text on your home page.
9. Prominent Contact Page- As was mentioned, the primary goal for most websites is to get someone to contact you. It’s surprising to see how many websites that don’t have contact pages placed on their main menus. On your contact page make it as easy as possible for people to contact you by using a contact submission form.
10. Professional Logo- On many websites the weak link is the logo. Don’t cut corners with the logo, but do keep the logo very simple. Think about how simple the logos are for most large corporations. Consider a stylized text logo with a very simple image that integrates well with the text. Tie your primary colors into the logo and match the colors of your website with those on your logo.

Your website is the first thing that most of your prospective clients will see, so it’s crucial to put your best foot forward. You may have to invest significant time, money and resources to drive traffic to your website- so take full advantage of every visit!

Mikel Bruce
Tinyfrog Technologies

San Diego Web Design

www.tinyfrog.com

Getting leads isn’t always easy. Whether they are gained through your website, your own personal efforts or through referrals, leads can seem elusive. But without them, your business will stagnate. In every business, each existing client first began as a lead or a prospect.

Have you ever taken the time to determine how many leads that you need in order to survive? What about the number of actual clients you need in order to survive?

Knowing these numbers is absolutely crucial; falling short on either account can be a very unpleasant experience.

Another important figure is your closing ratio—the percentage of your leads that get converted into paying clients. If you need 25 clients a month, and you average 1000 leads per month, you would need a closing ratio of 2.5% to meet your goal.

The typical business owner, when facing financial trouble, will focus their resources on gaining more leads. And while gaining new leads is important, it is not nearly as important, efficient or effective as focusing on the leads you already have.

You may not know that, on average, it takes 7 contacts to convert a lead or prospect into a client. However, most people give up after only 2 attempts! With this approach, you will lose the game before it’s really over.

Follow-up is the most important part of the marketing process. Yet this is the area that most people ignore. Why? Many people worry that they will come across as bugging a prospect— and nobody wants to do that.

Yet all we really need to do is to change our mind-sets from bugging prospects to giving them the opportunities to do business with us. The rewards could be huge, allowing you to consistently secure more clients with less effort and lower costs.

This can be achieved in three steps:

Remember, marketing is really a numbers game, and you need to play to win. The best way to hit high numbers is to stay in constant contact with the best prospects of all: the ones you already have.

1. Create some type of database that keeps track of your prospects. This should include the information exchanged when you contacted them, and when you would like to contact them next. I HIGHLY recommend investing in a Client Relationship Management program (CRM) such as SalesForce (www.salesforce.com)
2. Contact your prospects at least once a month for a minimum of 7 attempts.
3. Add their emails addresses to your email newsletter list so that you can stay in front of them that way.

Mikel Bruce
Tiny Frog Technologies
San Diego Web Design
www.TinyFrog.com
888-282-7818

Blogs have built-in content-management-systems so the Blog owner can easily update the Blog and add content in the form of Blog entries. Unlike a typical website where new content gets added infrequently, with a blog, one can add new content on a regular basis. Website content that changes frequently, also known as dynamic content, is one of the major variables that Google and other search engines use in their algorithms when ranking websites.

In addition to dynamic content, the quantity of content also plays a major role in search engine ranking. Blogs are designed to automatically archive past entries so that the Blog owner can easily add new entries. This cumulative content will continually improve a Blogs relationship with the search engines.

One of the biggest mistakes that most Blog owners make is to set up a Blog separate from and not integrated into their website. Integrating a Blog into a website takes more time and effort and typically requires a web programmer but it is totally worth the effort since the Blog will then enhance the websites credibility with the search engines.

By building your Blog directly into your site, it will have the same look and feel as your website- As people visit your Blog they will then have instant access to the rest of the information on your website. If your blog is separate from your website, and just links to your website, you lose these benefits.

One caution is not to use a Blog as your main website – It typically doesn’t have the same aesthetics and may turn off some of your website visitors.

Mikel Bruce
Tiny Frog Technologies
San Diego Web Design & SEO
www.tinyfrog.com
888-282-7818