Social Media Management for Small Business

Traditional forms of advertising for businesses - things like the yellowpages, billboards, print ads, radio/TV commercials - are dead.  They're expensive and likely aren't bringing a positive ROI.

Online advertising - things like SEO, SEM, social media management, online video marketing - are the way of the future.  They're cheap, and bring tons of qualified traffic to your website.

Think about it, when was the last time you used the yellow pages?  When was the last time you Googled?  Exactly!

Small Business Online Marketing and Social Media Management

Traditional forms of advertising - things like billboards, newspaper ads, yellow pages, etc. - are dead.  They don't bring in new customers because we've learned to tune this out.

Internet marketing, on the other hand, is growing by leaps and bounds and is becoming more and more effective each and every day.  What are you waiting for?

Congratulations to Daily Fuel Economy Tip

Today I'm going to "toot my own horn" (which if you read yesterday's post, The Donald would say that's perfectly fine).

This morning, I checked the web stats for Daily Fuel Economy Tip and I noticed that at some point yesterday, I reached the 75,000 hit "milestone."

Now why that certainly may not seem like much, for me it's quite an accomplishment. Considering I have next to zero web design skills and that I really don't know a whole heck of a lot about cars, 75,000 hits is a pretty big deal.

So, with that being said, congrats to Daily Fuel Economy Tip and hopefully the next 75,000 hits will come even faster than the first.

Think Like a Billionaire

I hope that at some point in my life I will be able to tell you what it feels like to think as a billionaire, but in the meantime, I will tell you a little bit about Donald Trump's Think Like a Billionaire, the latest business/motivational book I've picked up and read.

I'd just like to preface this by saying even if you don't particularly care for "The Donald", this is a book worth reading. Without a doubt, Donald Trump is one of the single greatest self promoters in the world, not to mention one of the most business savvy people around.

Yes, some of his antics are over the top (coming out with his own clothing line, telling everyone who will listen how great he is, etc.), but at the same time, don't you think those over the top antics are what made him a household name?

Can you name even three other billionaire real estate magnates? I know I can't. But, we all know the Trump name.

Anyway, back to the book.

I think the book was a good read and gave a lot of pointers on how to get yourself on the path to becoming wealthy. For example, if you want to be successful in business, you have to be willing to trust your gut and take risks. You also have to be willing to accept your failures, learn from them and then move on.

The only thing I would have changed about the book is it tends to focus on getting rich through real estate. Don't get me wrong, I expected that, after all, it is how Trump made his fortune. But I was also hoping it would delve more into entrepreneurial sorts of things (starting a business, brand and image building, etc.).

All things considered, it was certainly worth picking up from the library and I would recommend it to all Trump fans as well as anyone who dreams of making tons of money.

New Site on the Blogroll - Blogtrepreneur.com

First off, I'd like to thank the person that submitted my Daily Fuel Economy Tip site to Fark.com, as it got over 20,000 hits over the last two days. My Google AdSense account thanks you.

Okay, back to what I originally intended to talk about which is Blogtrepreneur.com.

As you may remember from my post on procrastination, there was about a two month period where I didn't check my New Business Blog email account. During that time, I received an email from a guy named Adnan who wanted to swap links with me. So, two months later, this is how I first came to find out about Blogtrepreneur.

Anyway, I've visited the site a couple of times and I think there's a lot of good information to be had. Adnan is in the middle of putting together his own e-business (GolfChum.com) so I think he would be a good resource for anyone else out there who is thinking about putting together a for-profit site. Myself included.

Some of the topics covered on Blogtrepreneur include Google AdSense, how to start an e-business, blogging for money, and search engine optimization. These topics are covered well and would be a great starting point for anyone who is in the process of starting a blog or an e-business.

So, for those of you interested in checking out another online business resource, I'd recommend checking out Blogtrepreneur.com.

How Irresistible is The Irresistible Offer?

Another book I had an opportunity to read while relaxing on the beach was The Irresistible Offer - How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less by Mark Joyner. I thought the title was catchy enough, so I went ahead and gave the book a try.

All things considered, I thought this was a pretty decent read. Although much of the information given is kind of common sense, Joyner does a good job of presenting the information from the viewpoint of both the buyer (your customers) and the seller (you).

Without going in to too much detail, Joyner believes that in order to turn a potential customer into a paying customer, you have about three seconds to capture their attention and make them believe your product or service is just as valuable (or more valuable) than the money you want from them.

The reason behind having such a short amount of time to convince a potential customer is because consumers are so bombarded with advertising and product information, they have instinctively learned to tune out items that are of little or no interest or offers that are just plain awful.

Most of The Irresistible Offer focuses on what an "irresistible offer" is and how to go about creating one.

Again, without going in to too much detail, according to Joyner, an "irresistible offer" consists of high ROI offer (a customer will get more from owning your product than they would just keeping their money or buying someone else's product), a touchstone (something that quickly explains what you're selling, how much it costs, why the customer should buy and why they should believe you) and believability (people know that if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is).

So, if you can bring these items together, you have put together an irresistible offer and will have a much better chance of making a sale.

Joyner's classic example of an "irresistible offer" was the old Domino's Pizza "30 minutes or it's free" guarantee. According to Joyner, the offer had a high ROI (if you're hungry, you don't have to wait long), a touchstone (you're getting pizza in 30 minutes or less, or you don't pay anything) and believability (Domino's followed through on the offer).

All things considered, I thought this was a pretty good basic marketing book. While I don't know if I will be rushing to add this to my own personal collection, it was certainly worth grabbing off the library shelves.

Millionaire Republican Review

While I was at the beach this past weekend, I read a couple of interesting books in regards to business, entrepreneurship and just wealth in general.

One of the more interesting books I read was Millionaire Republican - Why Rich Republicans Get Rich - And How You Can Too! by Wayne Allyn Root. While I don't classify myself as a Republican (I'm more of a fiscally conservative, socially liberal moderate), this looked like a pretty interesting read.

All things considered, I'm pretty glad I read the book. While Root was a bit over-the-top in regards to his Republican stance and self boasting, Millionaire Republican was an easy read that had some valuable points.

The core of the book is very pro-entrepreneur, which I liked. I've said it time and time again, if you want to make it big (I'm talking tens of millions of dollars) you need to own a business, and Root does a good job of driving this point home.

Another point Root really harps on (to the point of almost going overboard) is the fact in order to succeed at business, or anything for that matter, you have to be an optimist (Republican) because if you are a pessimist (Democrat) you will do nothing but drag yourself and your business down.

I full-heartedly agree with the point Root makes regarding the need to look on the bright side, however I've known enough pessimistic Republicans and optimistic Democrats to know that he is using faulty logic in equating the two political parties with the two different outlooks on life.

The other item that rubbed me the wrong way was Root's boasting, in particular his claim that his company was the only publicly traded gambling site on Wall Street. That sounded a bit fishy to me (oh God, the pessimist is emerging) so I checked it out. It turns out, his company is traded on an Over-The-Counter board, so it's not even a "real" stock.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people bragging about their accomplishments. I certainly wish I had this guy's money. My problem lies with the embellishment of the truth. Don't try to make yourself sound bigger than what you are.

In summary, I would recommend this book for anyone whose political views skew to the right and is looking for a quasi-entertaining, quick read.