Networking isn’t an art or a science, it’s an experience – and it’s something that you absolutely must do if you want to rapidly expand your circles of influence and put yourself on an upward spiral of exposure to audiences that want to know you and want to buy from you.

The trouble is, most people don’t know how to network effectively. They think that doing things like handing out business cards and shaking hands (or creating a blog) is going to get them there. And it might – in 10 or 20 years. If you open up a shop on a back road and put your shingle out, you might attract some attention … eventually.

Screw “eventually.” You need to get on the networking fast track now, so you’re able to move up the food chain and leverage every opportunity possible to change the world (or at least put food on the table). Read on.

I’m going to be straight up with you – I don’t go for a lot of the “traditional” networking advice. I don’t think of networking in terms of timing and smooth talking and handshaking and subtle psychological manipulation and creating emotional debts you hope will be repaid. I’m not going to tell you how to “work a room” or “fake it ‘till you make it.”

Nuh-uh. I’m going to tell you how to be a candle – no, screw that, a torch – that burns so brightly that people at the top of the food chain want to hold it up and use it to light their way. A light that A-Listers don’t hesitate for a second to shine everywhere they go. I’m going to show you specifically how to position yourself as a valuable connection who must be shared – not as some random person desperate to get some attention.

The good news: when it comes to networking (ethically), you can grow at a staggering rate and see a return on your time investment almost immediately if you play your cards right. But before you get all starry eyed about hanging with the big shots in your niche, look at the word I use in that last sentence: investment.

If you really want to expand your reach you’re going to have to do some serious work. You’re going to have to give a solid investment of your time, and you’re going to have to invest your ego. (Wait, what?)

When you invest money, you lose access to it for a while so that (hopefully) it can work its magic for a satisfying return. When you invest your ego, you’re checking it at the door and focusing on other people – not yourself – to make some magic happen.

The secret to effective networking is this: “Givers Get.” But you’ve got to give strategically, and you’ve got to give intelligently (or you’ll burn out). Read on.

When you give, you need to make sure you’re giving to the right people in the right ways, or you’ll be spinning your wheels and wondering why what “goes around” isn’t coming around.

For rapid, powerful networking to occur, you’ve got to engage with these strategies:

• You’ve got to give to people who can receive immediate value and appreciate it strongly enough to value your contribution. The longer it takes for that value to mature (in many cases) the harder it is to establish a strong emotional bond with a person.
• You’ve got to give to people who have the immediate potential to improve your position in a material way. Yes, I know I said “Givers Get” and I still mean it. But you have to give to people who can actually give back in a meaningful way, or that emotional bond will fade.
• You’ve got to give in ways that can be made public (or at least public to the receiver’s peer group) so that word of your contribution has room to grow.
• You’ve got to give in ways that don’t siphon resources away from your own growth but instead complement it. You want to become better known for your “signature value” and you can’t do that while doing tasks that don’t connect with it. Make the services you want to sell something you give for free while networking.
• You’ve got to give in ways that don’t look desperate. Confidence is key – you’ve got to come across as giving because you have an abundance of value to give, not because you’re dependent on payback. People can smell fear and desperation, and the way to avoid this is to accept that some giving will never be repaid – and then decide you’re going to be fine with that.

This last point is important, so I’ll repeat it: Some giving will never be repaid, and if you don’t get okay with that up front, you’re going to be miserable. So accept it as a cost of doing (networking) business.

Remember, you’re not giving because you want to “get your slice of the pie” by creating a debt that must be repaid. You’re giving because you know that when you show people how valuable you are, many of them will want to share that value. You want to expand the pie for everyone.

Tuck this away for future reference: People sometimes repay those whom they owe – but they almost always reward whom they respect.

So let’s put you on that path to rewards now with seven powerful steps. Again, before you get starry-eyed, you will be making a time investment with these, so get yourself ready. (But really the time is “free,” because you can get such a massive return on investment once things get rolling). Let’s dive in.

STEP #1: BUILD YOUR NETWORKING MAP, AND IDENTIFY KEY INFLUENCERS

Many people set their sights on an A-Lister and try and approach them directly. Nothing wrong with this strategy, just know up front that it’s the path that’s most likely to fail (but seriously, go ahead and try it, because there’s limited downside – and if it works, you’ll be glad you took the chance).

Some A-Listers are actually pretty approachable, but many flat out aren’t – not because they’re pretentious jerks, but because they are simply overwhelmed with incoming commitments and can’t respond to you. Don’t take it personally, ever. They may be juggling 5 big deals and trying to keep their sanity (or family) together, and your email just can’t make their radar.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to. You see, the busier and more successful someone is, the more they rely on people they trust to filter decisions for them. They don’t have the time to take in an process all the pros and cons of some new unknown quantity, so they simply look to their “influencers” – the people who already have established trust with them – for recommendations.

It’s usually ten times easier to establish a connection and relationship with people’s influencers than it is with the people themselves. The influencers are generally not as overwhelmed and more open to connecting with people. So your immediate goal is to begin influencing the influencers.
This may seem counter-intuitive or a bit of the “slow path,” but trust me, it’s not. Getting an influencer to give you the time of day is much easier than breaking into the A-Lister’s attention sphere.

Influencers tend to be a rung or two lower on the food chain than the people they influence – maybe they’ve done a lot of freelance work for them in the past, or they’re a trusted service provider in some other capacity. Or perhaps they were peer-level with the A-Lister at one time … and they just haven’t advanced as quickly.

So they have all the perks of a close relationship with the person you want to connect with but less of the baggage that comes with being an A-Lister. And that’s your advantage. These people are accessible (or in some cases, damned busy but at least more potentially accessible).

So here’s where you begin: you start creating a networking map.

• Begin a mind map for the A-Lister you want to connect with. Just draw 5 circles in the middle of a sheet of paper to start with – you don’t need any fancy mind-mapping software. Connect each of those circles in a ring, and in the first circle put the name of who you want to connect with. Then, in the remaining circles add 4 other A-Listers who can be considered directly in her peer group. These are possible entryways onto the initial person’s radar. Get one of them, and you have an easier in with any of the others.
• Then, start pushing down one level on the food chain for each of these people. Draw lines with circles coming out of each original circle in the ring and put the names of people they are close with. If you’re not sure who these people are, look on their blogs and look on Twitter. Who do they engage in conversation with? Who do they ask questions to? Do some detective work here.
• Push down one or two levels until you’ve got a fully populated networking map. Yes, this is a bit of work, but remember the old quote: “Successful people get where they are by doing the things unsuccessful people won’t.”

You’ll likely notice that several of the people surrounding the rings have strong ties to other A-Lister’s networking chains. These are some of the choicest people to connect with, because your efforts are multiplied. You can shave off 50% of your networking time just by leveraging this tactic.

STEP #2: START ADDING VALUE TO OTHER PEOPLE’S PROJECTS

Here’s the part where 90% of readers would throw their hands up and say “This is going to be too much work.” Fortunately, you’re into winning, not whining, or you wouldn’t have read this far, so you’re in the 10% of actual action takers (yay you).

Remember how I said that you needed to become that candle/torch that people want to show to all their friends? Here’s where you get your chance to burn brightly. You need to look at these people you want to network with and think of the seeds of memorable value you want to be planting.

As you get to know influencers (or the people who can connect you with the influencers), you always want to end your initial conversations by getting a sense of what their big projects are and asking this question:

What can I do right now to add value to what you’re working on? How can I help?

Do not underestimate the massive power of this single statement. It is the game-changing strategy that can open a thousand doors for you. And it will catch people off guard.

You see, most people are used to takers. Everyone seems out to get something from you, to be playing whatever angle they can to get you to get you to do them a favor up front without investing in your success as well. Here’s where you stand above the crowd and position yourself as an authentic giver and not a taker.

Notice I said “authentic giver” here. I mean it. I told you before that you’ve got to set your expectations so that you’re okay with it when people don’t reciprocate. Now I want you to take it a step further and to start seeing yourself not as a networker, but as a contributor. A giver.

Don’t approach people in terms of “What do I have to do for them to get them to do something for me?” Not only is that selfish and manipulative, but it’s counter-productive. We can all tell when someone’s buttering us up for their own reasons. Instead, approach people in terms of “What can I do for them to totally wow them, so that they want to give me further opportunities to help them and their friends?”

That changes everything. And I’m telling you this for selfish reasons. You see, I want to get you out of “taking” mode and turn you into more of a giver, because the more people do that, the more we all “expand the pie” for each other. The more giving everybody does, the more everybody gets in the long run.

So the message is, become known for being a person who adds value for others, and others will fall over themselves spreading the word about you. And in time, they will spontaneously respond with some form of this statement: “Thanks for everything you’ve done. Now seriously, what can I do for you?”

Remember, people like to give to people they trust and respect. Become that person.

Ways to give:

• Find out what needs they have and connect them to an awesome service provider (or take on a bit of the work yourself). For example, since I’m technically inclined, and I know how to set up mailing lists, I’ve done that for a few people farther up the food chain than I am. It takes me about 30 minutes of talking to them and an hour of work, and they have a list ready to go, saving them tons of headache and hiring and learning curve. What valuable task (that’s not too time consuming) can you make your “signature gift” to others?
• Give them some free consultation. I did this a lot with my time management / project planning coaching. You might be able to do it with whatever it is you do. Don’t be pushy about it – remember, this is about giving, not looking like you’re trying to set yourself up for a paying gig later. There’s nothing wrong with mentioning what you do, saying (honestly) you’d love to chip in on an interesting project and get to know people, and doing so. This is how you become friends, and not just a contact. (Just don’t be surprised when that person starts referring you as that “awesome service provider” to people up her food chain. Just sayin’).
• Become a lookout. This is a really effective strategy where you ask someone what kinds of people / resources they are looking for to make their project more successful, and then you do some legwork and find those people. For example, if you’re networking with someone who’s trying to get a book published, and you know someone who has recently released a successful book, then you can connect the two of them. This is called “becoming a lifesaver.” When you can connect someone with a person who can help them, you are golden.

Givers get. Focus on the giving. Add value without asking for payback, and you’ll be astounded with how much payback you get and how fast people push you up the food chain. Expand the pie, because the world is always hungry for another slice.

STEP #3: FIND WAYS TO PROMOTE OTHER PEOPLE

Perhaps the most effective giving strategy is to promote someone’s project, or promote them (as a person/brand) in general. If you have a large platform to speak from (and by platform I mean something like a big blog or newsletter) you can get on an A-Lister’s radar simply by speaking well about them, but since many of us don’t have that kind of platform, there’s another strategy that in some ways might be even more effective for you.

You can make a powerful impact simply by working to promote people on the second and third level down your networking map. They are usually less “known” and will truly appreciate the exposure in whatever form you can give them.

And though it should go without saying, I’ll say it anyway – be authentic. Don’t just toss out fake kind words to get brownie points. Only do honest, experience-based promotion in order to protect everyone’s reputation.

The ways you can promote people are endless, but here is a simple and effective way to do it in the next 72 hours.

• Use your primary platform to talk about your recent experience with the other person. Consider your last phone call, email exchange or instant message conversation with the person. If you learned something valuable in your exchange with them, share it and give due credit to them. (This can also make a valuable, easily shareable piece of content for your blog / newsletter). If you’ve discovered that person is really good at something, recommend their services. Don’t forget to link to them.

• Follow up with the person and let them know you’ve mentioned them to your platform. A simple email where you say “Thanks for the great conversation the other day – I learned so much / was so impressed with what you’re doing that I did a writeup about you on my blog. I thought you’d like to know – and I look forward to talking to you again. Let me know if you need anything in terms of spreading the word about what you do.” Include the link.

• Use social media to give extra exposure to the person. My personal recommendation is to use a 120-character tweet for this (save the last 20 characters or so for the “RT @yourname” when people re-tweet it.) Include their Twitter handle so it will show up on their radar. If you’re up for it, direct message a close friend or three and ask them to re-tweet it.

And remember, this isn’t about buttering up the other person, it’s about telling your audience how awesome the person is (yes, that means only use this strategy for people who are indeed awesome) and expanding the pie by bringing more attention to their business.

Yes, this is work, but think about it – when this well-connected person is being inundated with requests from people who want to network up his food chain, who do you think is going to be “top-of-mind” for him? An inbox full of “takers” or you, the person who brought him more business and more exposure?

STEP #4 – BUY THEIR PRODUCTS (YES, BUY) AND START REVIEWING THEM

I know a lot of people will tune out this one because it requires (gasp) an investment on their point. No apologies here, you’re either in the game or you’re not, and I’m certainly not trying to push you into buying my stuff with this step. Hell, I’m going to tell you how to make it free, so anyone who’s about to cry foul, quit your crying.

Here’s the deal: When you buy someone’s stuff, you send several very powerful messages to them, even before your initial direct contact:

1. You’re telling them you’re not a taker. I don’t care if you’ve bought a $7 special report or a $2,500 training program, once you make that purchase you’re on record for that person as someone who is a step above the takers that they’re used to dealing with. You’ve shown them that they aren’t just another person on your list and that they’re worth buying from.
2. You’re telling them that you are relevant to their mission. By making that purchase, you’re establishing that you’re in the product creator’s tribe, and that what they are doing overlaps with what you are doing. You’re not a random person, you’re a targeted contact now. It makes more sense for them to be open to connect with you, because they know they have relevant value to share with you.
3. You’re creating the gateway for relevant communication. Since you own their product, you have a very, very valid reason for contacting them – whether it’s to complement them on the value you’ve received, ask for questions, or simply share your experience. This gateway can be the single most powerful networking tool you acquire.

Now, to put this in perspective, this isn’t going to work if you don’t have a relevant need for the product and can’t use it. Don’t think that just buying someone’s stuff is going to give you a magic pathway to them filled with cupcakes and unicorns. Ain’t going to happen.

But if you buy something you can use, and you can create a meaningful result or experience from it, you can instantly create rapport with someone up the food chain. And that can shave years off of your networking time, because almost nobody ever does this.

So we’ve covered the buying part, where you can potentially get on someone’s radar. Now let’s talk about how to make that radar blip much bigger and much louder by using a product review. Here’s what you can do:

• Once you’ve bought the product, tell people about it. Mention it on your blog and link to it. Mention it on Twitter, and use the creator’s Twitter handle, so it will show up in their “Mentions” section. And let people know you’re going to do a review in the near future.

• Take notes as you go through the product. If you’re using it to create a result, document it. If you’re not going to use it in the near future, just take notes on your experience evaluating it.

• Write a quality review. Explain what the product is all about – and include the good, the bad and the ugly. Your readers will appreciate your honesty and trust you more. Use “<Product Name> Review” in your post title, and use the product name and the word “review” in your first paragraph (this is for SEO goodness).

• Publicize your review. Newsletter. Social media. Get the word out, subtly and with class – you’re not pushing people for a sale, you’re just trying to educate them and give the creator exposure.

• Contact the product creator about the review and thank her for her product. Let the creator know you have a review up and are letting people know about your experiences. Add another layer onto the relationship you’re building. Ask if there’s anything you can do for her.

• Do a few follow-up reviews, and repeat the last two steps. Leave your first review open-ended. Maybe there’s more you can add onto it that you didn’t cover in your first review. Maybe you’re just giving a progress update. But follow up. Give more exposure.

Now, you’ve got a lot of good things going on here. You’re educating your audience, which is valuable. You’re investing in training which is (hopefully) helping you. And you’re establishing a stronger relationship with whoever you’re trying to connect with. And, if your links to the product are affiliate links, you might even make your money back and then some. (Trust me, people search on “<product name> review” like crazy when considering a purchase. It’s good if you can show up there.)

So that’s why buying and reviewing can help you network at light speed. I’ve seen people use it as the cornerstone of their networking plan and it’s insane how effective it is. Or maybe it’s not insane, and it works so well because so few people have the stones to put their money where their mouth is.

STEP #5 – ENGAGE THEM IN MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION ON TWITTER

Thanks to Twitter, you have an incredible advantage that you just didn’t have a few years ago – you have a chance to insert immediate value into A-Listers’ conversations in real-time. It is staggering to me how effective this is at getting on people’s radars almost instantly.

Yeah, that’s a big “almost.” I’ll explain why: The blessing of Twitter is also it’s curse; because so many people are on an A-Lister’s follow list, they have a large amount of traffic. Which means they are likely receiving a steady stream of messages, and getting them to see yours can be difficult. If they ask a question and get 50 answers – including yours – you might just blend into the pack.

And more than that, even if they do see you, they may not have the capacity to respond to you. Think about it – if 50 people respond to your conversation, can you reply to them all? You can’t. For one thing, if you did 50 replies, people who follow you will get overwhelmed and unfollow. And you simply can’t manage direct messages with that many people.

So here’s the lesson – never take it personally when a message you send – Twitter or otherwise – is ignored. For highly successful people to function, they have to let some level of communication slide or they can’t do the basic day-to-day stuff that makes their business work. Don’t get pissy when you think you’re getting ignored. Be understanding.

So with that hurdle in front of you, how do you get on their radar fast? It’s simple: you work to become the most relevant name out of the dozens they see every single day, so they will actually want to respond. Here’s how.

• Engage in conversation with their close connections – you know, the ones you’ve been working with in the previous steps. When the A-Listers see the people they trust (and follow closely) talking to you, an immediate level of credibility is established. They start seeing you as a peer to those they already trust.

• Ask specific, meaningful questions about their status when relevant. If someone posts that they are speaking at an event, ask them what day it’s on or what topic they’re talking about. Give them an opportunity to reply to something that will allow them to further promote what they’re working on.

• Ask them product-based questions that can be answered in 140 characters or less. Since you (hopefully) own their product, asking a quick question about what you’re working on can get a fast response. It’s publicity for them and what they’re selling, so they’re more motivated to reply.

• Customize your re-tweets to stand out from the crowd. Many people click the re-tweet button hoping to be noticed, and sometimes they are. But, you stand a better chance of catching that person’s attention if you modify the tweet to add more relevant information or provide promotional backup. If they’re tweeting about a product you own you could add “I’m on chapter 5 and it’s great!” – provided that you’re being honest about it – and your chances of getting noticed (and appreciated) are increased.

The key in all this is to remember that you’re not trying to trigger a response – remember, these people are already overloaded with communication and they don’t want to have to wade through fluff – instead, you’re trying to add relevant value to their conversation.

It all comes down to creating that meaningful value. If you can deliver it to them, you will be relevant to them. And remember that this works for their peer group too – so if you can become relevant to anyone in that group of five you put in your networking map, you’ll have an easier shot at getting the others.

STEP #6 – GET THEM ON THE PHONE FOR AN INTERVIEW

One of the most overlooked aspects of rapid networking is the power of a phone-based interview. It amazes me how people who tend to seem unapproachable in so many ways (due to either being busy or being aloof) will be completely open to doing an interview if you’re only proactive enough to make it easy on them.

Remember, A-Listers (and really, people on any “list”) continue to seek out new avenues of self-promotion so that they can access audiences they have not yet been exposed to. The “opportunity cost” of spending 30 or 60 minutes on the phone is low compared to the return they can get by being featured in yet another location online.

When it comes to scoring interviews, you can’t afford to think about who’s “out of your league” or not. No one is out of your league. It’s all in the approach.
Let’s talk about a few key factors to focus on when trying to score an interview with someone at the top of the food chain.

• First, you need to have a reason for them to do it. You can’t just say “Hey, want an interview?” to someone who gets interview requests every week. You’ve got to show them what they get out of it. This could be simply personal exposure (“I have a blog with 1,000 daily readers …”) or product exposure (“I’d like to interview you about your new book …”). Look at it from the other person’s promotional perspective. They’re paying with their time and attention. What’s the return?

• Second, you need a quality segue. While the direct email / tweet approach sometimes works, if you’re dealing with someone who is a little on the inaccessible side, it’s time to call on your second- and third-tier contacts (the ones you’ve been working with on your way upwards). Since they’re familiar with the people you want to connect with, they can give you valuable insight as to how to approach the higher-up in a way that’s most likely to succeed.

• Third, you need to make it really easy on them. Have a list of pre-prepared questions and send it to them ahead of time, along with call in numbers and backup ways of connecting with them if something goes wrong with the call. If you’re both using Gmail, send them a calendar invite so it gets on their schedule. Send them a confirmation message the day before the call. The less they have to think about it, the better.

Phone interviews are powerful. They don’t have to be an hour. They can be 30 minutes. Hell, they can be 15 minutes if you want to be all crazy targeted with what you cover. As long as it’s something.

Here’s why interviews are so powerful: When you get on the phone with someone, you are truly entering their world, hearing their voice and having real conversation … and that sticks. You’ll find it ten times easier to continue connecting with them in the future because now they know you.

There’s also a “halo effect” you can score from interviews – as you interview someone higher up the food chain, the public perception of you increases as well – especially with the interviewee’s peers. Get one interview nailed down, and the rest of your core circle can follow fairly easily.

STEP #7 – COMPLETE THE CIRCLE

Now that you’ve got some serious networking mojo going on now, you need to see it as a valuable resource you can tap for other people – and you should tap it actively. You’re more powerful than you were before by virtue of the connections you have, and the more you expand and strengthen your own circle of influence, the more you can expand the pie for everyone.

At this point you’ve asked a lot of people “How can I add value to what you’re doing?” and a lot of people have answered. You’ve also gained entry into a lot of different people’s worlds, and you’re more acutely aware of the skills and resources everyone has to offer.

This makes you a force to be reckoned with, because now you can proactively begin to connect people based on potential connections that come to mind, and these people will be floored by how much of a value you are to their business. There’s almost nothing more powerful than meeting someone’s unexpressed need. Out of the blue, you’ll contact someone and say “Hey, there’s someone you need to meet who I think can really help you out with what you’re doing.” Do this for people, and they won’t hesitate to spread the word about you in every direction possible.

And it’s dead simple to do. Here’s an easy way to do it: Write a simple introductory email that has these features:

• A simple subject line. I like using the form “Making an introduction: Mark, meet Charlie; Charlie, meet Mark” – it’s simple, invokes names in a way that doesn’t look automated, and the very phrasing of it foreshadows a connection.

• A reason for the introduction. Basically, you’re introducing people because you’re envisioning some sort of win-win between them – whether it’s matching a problem with a need or just helping two like-minded people meet each other. Give a brief reason on why you’re connecting these two people.

• A short bio for each person (with relevance included). Tell Mark what Charlie does (and who he does it for) and why Charlie is so remarkable. Add a link to Charlie’s website and include his Twitter handle so Mark doesn’t have to go hunting. Then give Mark the same treatment.

• Invite them to connect. Here’s where you can tell them the desired result, whether it’s “you two should definitely get to know each other better” or “Mark, you might want to ask Charlie what he thinks of your upcoming project.” Hint at the value that can be created by a meeting of the minds. And see what magic unfolds.

One big caution when doing this: Treat people’s email addresses with respect. If you have access to a connection’s private email address, do not use it in the To: or CC: field of the email, or you’re sharing something private without permission. Use people’s publicly available email addresses so you don’t make an embarrassing mistake.

Let your candle burn. Let your torch light the way. Expand the pie, you sexy giver, you.

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We eventually made eye contact and he asked, “What do you think of that?” pointing at the book.

I explained I was just a few chapters into Free by Chris Anderson and could not make a recommendation either way.

After exchanging some casual banter he mentioned that he owned a consulting firm that specializes in marketing for auto dealerships. Needless to say, this set off alarm bells and immediately began to pry for advice with my own SEO business.

He made a number of points that stuck with me and I wanted to share them with you here.

Turn Your Clients into Salesmen

In almost every call with a client he makes it a habit to ask this series of questions:

• Is there anyone you know that could benefit from my services?
• Would you recommend me to any of your customers or business associates?
• Who have you contacted recently to recommend my services?

The man explained how he’s always training his clients to look for new opportunities. If he doesn’t, the client will rarely think to make a recommendation even when they’re happy with the services provided.

This is a great tip you should put into action today to develop more leads for your business.

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It’s really that easy!

If you would like to submit your business please do so below. Give us a reason why you should be chosen too in 1,000 characters or less. Submissions with no story will not be read. We will be reviewing these submissions through February 14th 2011 and make an announcement on March 1st, 2011 about the winner. So good luck and thanks for your submission!

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Ten Things Your Business Website Should Have

Your website is like a blueprint of your business and you need time and resources to build it.  If you’re clueless about it, you may outsource and hire experts to help you.  Still, it is vital for you to know what elements must be included to make you look less of a startup.  Your website must have:

1.  A Clean and Simple Site Navigation

You don’t want visitors to your site get totally confused.  Having a clean navigation is not only easy for your audience, but it is also friendly to search engines as well.  Make sure that you have clear links and a site map.  Google gives importance to site upload time so steer clear of flash, scripts and frames on your site.

2.  A No-Nonsense Homepage

You must have a clear description of who you are, what your offer and what you do right on the homepage of your website.  It is what people see first.  Don’t make them try to figure out who you are.  You may also write an overview about your business and leave your mission statement and company history on your ‘About’ page.

3.  An Easy-to-Remember Web Address

‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ may be cute for a song, but making your domain name this long is a major no-no!  Think of your domain name as your brand, something a user type in the web browser or searches.  Make sure that your domain name ( www.myname.com ) is not only simple and easy to remember, but it shouldn’t contain numbers and special characters too.

4.  A Visible Contact Page

There are many sites out there which make it hard for people to find how to contact them.  You can allot a separate contact page where you include information such as email, address, and phone.  You can also include a contact form, links to social networking sites ( Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter ), or an instant messaging widget ( Skype, Yahoo, etc ).

5.  A Well-Written Business Blog

On our last post, we taught you how to write a knockout corporate blog and having one on your site is a great way to engage your readers ( who can be your potential customers ).  With Google Caffeine looking for fresh content, having a blog is a brilliant way of keeping your site updated.

6.  Seals and Testimonials

One of the best way to gain trust is to flaunt honest and positive customer feedback, testimonials or reviews.  There are also many who look for industry seals from respected third parties which assures your visitors that they are dealing with a genuine business.

7.  An FAQ Page

This is something that’s self-explanatory.  You need to help your visitors understand your products and services better on this page.  You may also include your site’s privacy policy, plus terms and conditions here.

8.  A Call-to-Action

If 90% of visitors on your site will go there without buying a thing, at least get them involved!   You can place a ‘Subscribe to RSS’ or email box on the header or the footer of a page, just make it visible for everyone to see.  You may even ask your visitors to follow you on Facebook or Twitter.  The options are endless in keeping the flames of their interest burning.

9.  Optimized Content

SEO, or search engine optimization, will help people find you faster on the Web.  In fact, you only need to come up with the right keywords related to your industry and make sure you practice something that’s acceptable by Webmaster standards.  If you will hire someone to do your site’s SEO, make sure that you watch out for these SEO red flags.

10.  A Unique Brand

If you want your website to stand out, invest some time and money in making sure that you have a unique logo and website design that don’t look like another copy from a free template found online.  What colors speak for your business?  What message does your brand name impart?  How can you enhance user experience on your site? These are just a few questions to consider.

Your website is the very mirror that reflects your business image.  Now that you have the vital elements, the next step is to use them so you can maximize sales and build meaningful relationships with your visitors.

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If you would like to discuss more in depth contact us and we will set up either a face-to-face or a phone consult and find out what we can do for your business website! PERIOD!

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Some of them have even termed social media as the future of online marketing. Well they are partially correct.

Social media grew at the staggering rate in 2009 and continuously growing. According to a study on the impact of these kind of sites on the consumer behavior, more than 90% of buyers visit social media websites before buying anything and 50% of them take decisions under the influence of information they get from these websites.

So, does that mean that Social media is good for every business? Or, every kind of business can generate leads from these websites? Unfortunately, the answer is NO. Like every other technology, Social media has its own limitations too.

Here are the five situations when Social media is not good for your business.

1. Too Focused Niche
   The most important thing to do to get successful in social media is to identify your target audience and then to develop relationship with them.
   But if your niche is too focused and your product caters the needs of only a specific group of people then social media can’t help you a lot. Well you can still use these websites to increase the awareness about your products and brand but then your main objective should be sharing information and not generating sales.
2. Trying hard to sell
   Social media is not a market where you can start selling your products and services moments after creating your account.
   It’s a platform where you can develop relationships with your target audience. It’s a platform where you can listen what your target audience thinks about your products and your industry.
   It’s a platform where you can listen what your audience wants and then create customized products tailored to their requirements.
   So, if you are joining social media only to boast about your products and not for building relationships, then it’s not worth it.
3. Overcautious nature
   Most of the social media users prefer transparency and openness. They use these websites because they can easily express their opinions here about anything and everything.
   If you are the type of company that does not like transparency or where the person managing social accounts has to consult with upper management or legal department every time before sharing anything on social media websites. Then your business is not a good fit for social media.
4. Looking for quick results
   Time and again, we see companies that create accounts on social media websites and then sit back and start waiting for leads and sales.
   Sorry, Social media don’t work in this way.

   Promoting anything on social media is a process which takes time and a lot of time. Consider social media like watering a plant. You’ve to water it for months to get fruits from it. If you want quick results then there is nothing for you in social media world.

5. Don’t have enough resources
   Well, many companies think that social media is just about creating accounts on social networking sites which is WRONG. Like everywhere else, you need to have a social media strategy for promoting your business and enough resources to execute that strategy successfully. Social media should not be interpreted as Twitter or Facebook, it is what you can accomplish from these websites.

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No, Google did not back out of their decision to discount Meta descriptions as a ranking factor. However your site’s search snippet can now significantly affect your rankings. Here’s the deal.

Google and Personalized Search

Early this month Google announced that they would be tailoring everyone’s search results based on their search history even when users are not signed into Google. Personalized results are nothing new on Google. The search giant has been customizing peoples SERPs (search engine results pages) for quite a while already, but until now it only happened when you searched while signed into your Google account. Today, signed in or not everyone gets personal results.

Here’s How It Works

Whether you’re signed in or not, all the searches you run on Google are stored in your browser cookies. This data is referred to as your ‘Web History’ and Google uses it to customize your search results. If you’re not signed in, your Web History is stored for 180 days, then old data is replaced with new searches. If you’re signed in, there’s no time limit and you can manage you Web History. Either way the searches you run and sites you visit will affect your future search experience.

The sites you visit more often will be pushed higher in the search results on related queries. For example if you search for ‘cat food’ and visit www.petfood.com, next time when you search for ‘dog food’ you may see www.petfood.com in top 10 results even if it doesn’t rank there in the general impersonalized search. You can tell that your search results have been personalized by the ‘View customization’ link in the upper right hand corner.

The personalized search results can differ significantly from the general SERPs. I ran a couple of tests searching for related keywords and clicking the same site each time. I also checked this site’s rankings with a rank checker to get a list of impersonalized rankings. In one of the tests a few click-throughs to a site pushed it 26 positions up on a highly competitive keyword. That is from the 31 position on page 4 straight to the 5th spot on the first page in personalized search results (I was signed out).

How Meta Descriptions Can Affect Your Google Rankings

Although Meta descriptions are no longer part of the ranking algorithm they can affect your site’s positions in the personalized search results. Your Meta description is a crucial factor that determines the CTR (click-through-rate) of your site in search results. The more compelling your description is, the more searchers will click it. When they click through to your site from search results this is recorded in their Web History. Next time they search for a product or service related to your site, it may appear high up in their personalized search results.

Since everyone now gets personalized results, the scope of the effect your Meta descriptions have on your rankings can get really huge. That’s another reason why you should invest some time into testing and optimizing your Meta descriptions.

Meta Description Optimization

There’s plenty of advice out there on writing compelling titles and descriptions, so I won’t go there. Just keep in mind one thing. Google doesn’t always show the Meta description you provide. Sometimes it just compiles a random text snippet from your page that contains the keywords used in the query. But you can easily locate the keywords where your own Meta description shows up by searching for them on Google.

In Conclusion

There’s been a lot of criticism coming down on Google for introducing personal search to everyone. Some people are worried about privacy issues. Others don’t like it because the whole concept will help the rich get richer and keep the small guy out of the game. And some SEOs are just whining that this makes Search Engine Optimization success harder to measure.

Although I don’t think it is the best idea Google had either, I prefer to embrace it and run with it. And I suggest that you take this news as a call to action. A strong motivation to actually do something that’s going to help your SEO, your sales and your business. And that is to take a look at your Meta descriptions. Go and see how your website appears in the search results and find ways to improve it. With personalized search or without it, having a catchy compelling text in your search results snippet will get you more clicks, more traffic and more customers.

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According to the study more than 70 percent of web users have the habit of clicking on a link in the first page, while 92 percent select a web site from the first three pages. The survey is a testimony of user preference and shows that fewer users are clicking on results beyond the first three pages; In 2008 the figure was 8 % more than half when compared with the 2002 figures which stood at 19 %. It is heartening news for all online businesses retailers whose web sites have a high rank in the organic listings, and also highlights the need for an effective SEO strategy.

Every online business has two options when they are in the course to develop an internet marketing strategy; They have to decide which alternative guarantee higher return on investments, besides being more easy to manage.

If you take the case of PPC (Pay Per Click) there are an array of plus points that can be associated with it. A pay per click search engine advertising produces instant results as it allows quick leverage of search engine traffic by placing bids for keywords associated to your product or service. The flip side of this campaign is that it’s expensive and to get good results you have to spend lot of money.

When you take up the case of Organic SEO it’s not that much simpler task as it requires optimizing your web page and enhance its position in the naturally occurring search results. An organic SEO campaigner has to make sure that the search engine spiders are able to crawl and recognize what is on the web page. Once they understand the succeeding task becomes very easy. You just have to continue supplying relevant content and forge more inbound links from other web sites. In this way you boost your web site ranking easily and cost effectively.

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We think adding page load speed into Google’s ranking system is a great addition to the list of items that Google considers in determining which pages should rank highly for keywords for primarily two reasons:

1. Page load speed is incredibly important to user experience. Studies have shown that there is a subconscious clock ticking in a web surfer’s mind as he or she waitson a page to load. As Internet speeds have increased, the expectation of fast load time has also increased. Click here for a post from Google on its internal testing on speed and impact. Fast pages are good.
2. Page load speed is something that developers can measure, monitor, and optimize. While there are many things in the Google Algorithm we have no control over, this is one of the items we can do something about. We’ve listed some tools below to help analyze page load speed and 6 tips for improving you page load speed to rank higher.

How does Google determine page load speed?

Two major methods are being used to assess page load speed:

1. The page response to the GoogleBot. The GoogleBot is Google’s agent that crawls links all over the Web to categorize pages and content and then sends all of the information back to the Google mothership for processing using its proprietary algorithm. The GoogleBot is simply an information collector and doesn’t make any judgments or conduct analysis. It does, however, have some limits to how much of each page it will crawl because crawling billions of pages takes a lot of time. This is one reason we recommend having “clean” code, putting good content higher up on a page, and moving repetitive code like CSS to separate files.
2. Load time as measured by the Google Toolbar. Google has been very aggressive in distributing and popularizing the use of its free toolbar. One of the reasons is Google’s ability to use the toolbar as a measurement platform for individual sites and pages.

Tools for Measuring Page Load Speed

There are many free tools and plug-ins for measuring the speed of your page load time. Here are a few of our favorites:

1. If you have a Google Webmaster account (and you really should) there is a page speed tool in the Labs section. It gives you a general idea of how fast your pages load in relation to other pages on other sites that are measured.
2. Page Speed – This is a plug-in for the Firebug/Firefox browsers that measures load performance of web pages and gives recommendations for improvement.
3. YSlow – This is another Firebug/Firefox plug-in that looks at speed and provides recommendations.

What the Change to the Algorithm Means to You
In terms of importance, improving the page load speed of your site is not as critical as creating good title tags, developing URL structure, unique page content, and high quality inbound links. The page speed will provide an advantage to pages where most other items are equal. There is no doubt that a faster page load will also improve user experience and result in changes like increasing numbers of visitors, reducing the bounce rate, and providing more page views per visit. Either way, it is a good idea to take a proactive stance towards improving page speed.

6 Tips for Improving Your Page Load Speed to rank Higher

1. Optimize images : Large images can be cut-up, compressed, and loaded more quickly.
2. Use background colors instead of images: Instead of loading a large background image, use a background color.
3. Use caching: Caching provides repeat users with a better user experience as the images and other static files are loaded the first time someone visits the site and do not need to be loaded on subsequent visits.
4. Load external Javascipt and object calls last: One of the worst things is to make your visitors wait for remote or synchronous content to load onto your pages. Set up the site so that your content loads first and then external content is loaded subsequently where possible.
5. Use separate files for code that is repeated: Most commonly used with CSS style sheets, separate files allow the html code of the page to be lighter (less lines of code) and gives you a central, distinct file to make changes to important code (like style sheets).
6. Use CSS styling instead of HTML tables to organize your webpage: Web browsers (IE, Firefox, etc.) wait to load all of the content of a table before loading the table. CSS makes this process faster (and easier to update).

What to do Next

1. Pick one of the tools above and install it
2. Run the page load test against your homepage, one category page, and a form page
3. Get an idea of what elements can be improved. Discuss with your tech team and webmaster
4. Run the same tests against a competitor’s set of pages to see how you compare.

I hope this helps you take the vital steps towards improving page load speed for your users and the search engines.

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