Work.com Small Business Community Blog

How to Make Your Site More Visible

Search-marketing consultant Aaron Wall, author of Learning Search Engine Optimization, just did a very interesting podcast for the Wall Street Journal, where he offers advice on selecting keywords to make your site more visible. There's also a helpful video on maximizing search for your small business, which features an interview with Google's Adam Lasnik. The Wall Street Journal also has an article on search engine optimization for small business called In Search of Traffic - you need to be a subscriber to read the entire article. Also check out the following Work.com guides that help small businesses learn Internet marketing:

• Search Engine Marketing for Small Business
• Improving Your Web Site Visibility
• Increasing Your Online Visibility Using Work.com

Tags: internet marketing, aaron wall, seo, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, work.com

Driving Business to Your Website: SEO, SMO, & Trust

StartupNation has an interesting thread called How can I drive more business to my website started by the owner of www.rozanacuizine.com, a site that sells no-sugar marinating sauces. Check out all the advice that saucelady gets - it ranges from tips on keyword research to usability studies to web content to PPC and SEO.

Rakesh Ojha, a search engine marketing specialist from New Delhi, just wrote a Work.com guide to social media optimization, a term invented by Rohit Bhargava, VP of Interactive Marketing at Ogilvy Public Relations. Rakesh discusses how to optimize your site for social networking platforms, including tagging site content for sites such as Technorati and linking to bookmarking and aggregator sites such as del.icio.us and digg.

In my opinion, social media optimization is a new name for an old thing: gaining trust and social currency online. To me, true social media optimization goes beyond just thinking how a website can best connect through links and tags to the larger web community. A new term like "SMO" may be useful, but doesn't really capture the essence of what does create long-term, sustainable social currency on the web - trust, usefulness, and participation. Participating in a web community over time allows you to understand its nuances, and what its users want, and how you can be useful to its users. Tricks and games are not sustainable over time. It's good to understand how to make sure the wider web community is aware of your own web presence, but in the long term, what's important for business networking offline is what's important for business networking online: presence, follow-through, usefulness and trust.

Tags: social media optimization, startupnation, rohit bhargava, internet marketing

Work.com FAQ's

I sometimes get emails into the Work.com feedback mailbox that go something like this:

"We have a great business resource for your site to link to. Please tell me how I go about getting a link on your site." or...

"We sell professional sneezeguards for self-serve ice cream bars and can we be your supplier?" or...

"Can you find me a job?"

Um...hello.

1. Work.com is a business community which operates on sharing and trust. Work.com is not the place for link exchange. The best ways to get anyone remotely interested in your link on Work.com are the following:

a) Build a trustworthy and useful reputation and offer a continuous stream of relevant, useful business advice (like this author).

b) Comment on a guide and add a relevant link within the comment (see comment from Eric Wolfram). Hint: you can use HTML.

c) Write a useful and interesting guide, where you link to a variety of resources, including your own (here's an example).

d) Be creative with your profile, photo, and bio to engage people to click on your link. You may add a main website link in your profile, as well as use HTML links within your bio - so happy-profiling! (See this widget-y profile or that profile.)

2. Offer useful information that goes beyond your product specs. If you want to gain possible sales leads for your product, educate and intrigue us a little! Maybe we want to know about which sneezeguards complement self-serve ice cream bars and why, what to consider when choosing a sneezeguard, how to clean the thing, etc. Don't just create a guide with two links in it and a link to a keyword-stuffed profile. You can get so much more out of your guide than that, and so can Work.com users!

3. Work.com is not a job site. Really. We're a how-to business advice site. And we unfortunately can't find you a plumbing job in LA. But, if you dig deep in Work.com, you will find all kinds of nuggets that can help your work success: how to find freelance projects, how to write a resume, and starting your own business.

Tags: Work.com

Navigating the Long Hallway: Tools For Virtual Companies

A List Apart has a great post today about the long hallway, "the distance between the physical working spaces of the individuals that comprise virtual companies." The long hallway goes beyond telecommuting, which is based on most workers being in the same physical headquarters. Big companies such as the consulting firm Accenture, which has no physical headquarters, have been running virtual companies for years. With new technology, it's much easier for small businesses to create their own virtual company structure, with the ability to hire talented employees wherever they may be, as well as the flexibility of balanced work and life.

Here are some tools for virtual companies to navigate the long hallway:

• Skype
• web conferencing solutions
• groupware and collaboration software and sites
• meetings in Second Life
• tools to connect to your computer from anywhere
• tools that encourage collaboration between far-flung workers

Getting the Most Out of Linked In

The top social network for professionals has lots of tricks up its sleeve...go digg Greg Brown's Work.com guide!

read more | digg story

5 Great Internet Marketing Resources for Your Business

Do you want your business to become more visible online? Here are 5 great resources to get you started:

1. Online advertising in 4 easy steps
2. 5 rules for Social Media Optimization
3. 30 ways to promote your web application with little or no money
4. Technorati WTF blurb - write one and link to your site or guide from it
5. A Comprehensive Guide to StumbleUpon: How to Build Massive Traffic to Your Website and Monetize It

If you know other great resources or have a success story about getting visibility to your site, blog, or guide, let us know.

Tags: internet marketing, stumbleupon, online advertising, social media, social media optimization, technorati

SheepDog Design: Two Sisters Start a Design Business

I always get excited when I find new blogs documenting the adventure of starting a new business. I find each story full of dreams, twists and turns, hard-won advice, and great promise. So, when I stumbled across the Sheepdog Print and Design blog, started by two sisters from New York, Ulla and Melkorka, AND realized that they were using Work.com to traverse the intricacies of getting a business off the ground, I was practically floating in the clouds.

The Sheepdog Print and Design blog not only tells the story of Ulla and Melkorka's growing business, but also is sprinkled with great business design tips, commentary on being a woman in the business world, and business resources they've found useful.

Ulla and Melkorka say: "We aren't experts, but we're getting there." We look forward to you sharing your newfound expertise -- when you feel ready, write the next Work.com guide on starting a design business!

Tags: startups, sheepdog print and design, woman owned business, design

Top 10 Small Business Podcasts

Small Business Trends Radio lists the top 10 small business podcasts for the first quarter 2007. Topics of interest? Starting a business with no money, help desk strategies, real estate photography, VoIP, SEO for small business, electronic security tips, building a successful online forum, avoiding online marketing mistakes, virtual phone systems, and mastering Excel as a marketing tool.

Have a listen, and then come read some guides to expand your knowledge even further about low-cost businesses, help desks, business photography, VoIP, SEO, computer security, online community, online marketing, and Excel.

You can even learn how to make your own podcast for your business!

Tags: small business trends, small business trends radio, business podcasts

2007 Postage Rate Changes Effective May 14th

Is your business prepared for the 2007 postage rate changes effective May 14th? Will these changes be good or bad for your business? Dan Kehrer tells us everything we need to know in his Guide to the 2007 Postage Rate Changes.

Dan says:

Bottom line for business mailers: The new complex and far-reaching postal rate rules raise costs in many areas, but also create money-saving opportunities that you can turn to your advantage.

Find out what this means for you.

Tags: postage rate, business mailing

Top 10 Angel Investor Investment Preferences

Dan Kehrer, the Work.com editor, tells us what angel investors are interested in investing in these days. According to the recent 2007 Angel Capital Association (ACA) survey, here are the top 10:

1. medical devices
2. software
3. biotechnology
4. business products/services
5. electronics & instrumentation
6. healthcare services
7. industrial/energy
8. IT services
9. networking & equipment
10. telecom

Looking for angel funding? Check out angel groups such as BioAngels, TechCoast Angels, Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network, New York Angels, New World Angels, and Y Combinator. Make sure you know the difference between angel investors and venture capitalists if you are looking to fund your business!

P.S. For startup news, check out Y Combinator's news site.

Tags: angel investors, business financing, business funding, venture capital