NPACC Business to Business Expo

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Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

We will have a table set up at the North Port Area Chamber of Commerce Business to Business Expo on Thursday, July 22, 2010. We hope to see you there.

Event Details:

Event: North Port Chamber of Commere Business-To-Business Expo
Date: Thursday, July 22, 2010
Time: 4pm-8pm
Location: Warm Mineral Springs Resort & Spa
12200 San Servando Avenue
North Port, Florida 34287

Food & beverages will be available from Cafe Evergreen until 8pm.

Six professional speakers will present topics related to securing business during tough economic times.

An additional presented topic will be the history and unique positioning of Warm Mineral Springs.

FREE ADMISSION & SWIMMING!

Warm Mineral Springs is waiving all admission fees ($20 per person) for all North Port area residents.

SPECIAL LIVE APPEARANCE: Juan Ponce de Leon and his conquistadors will re-visit the area for the first time since July of 1513 when he lost his life for his cherished “Fountain Of Youth”. ETA; 6:30pm!

Categories : north port
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Web Design – More Than Just Good Looks

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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Before having your website designed or re-designed, it’s helpful to have a basic understanding of good design practices. Everyone wants a website that looks good, but looks aren’t everything. You need a website that conveys your message clearly and makes it easy for your customers to buy from you.

These are probably the three most important aspects of web design that may mean the difference between your visitors buying from you or your competition.

Navigation

If you have a small site, then navigation is usually pretty easy to design, but if you have hundreds, or thousands of pages, it’s important to design your navigation in a way that makes it easy for your visitors to find the content they are looking for. Having a list of 300 links down the side of the page is not very useful. Organize by categories and keywords so your visitors don’t have to spend a lot of time hunting, because most of them would rather leave and look somewhere else.

Call to Action

Call to action

This is something you and your designer need to spend some time on. Your visitors need to be told how to buy from you and they need to be told clearly. For example, if you want them to call you, then you might have “CALL NOW 555-555-5555!” at the top of every page. Make it stand out from the page so the visitor can’t help but see it. It’s super important to make sure that your visitors know exactly how to do business with you. If they have to spend time figuring it out, they’ll just go somewhere else.

To the Point

People are busy. They don’t have a lot of time to read your life story about how you got into business and why your business is so great. Make your content short and to the point, then make it shorter. Trim out as much unnecessary information as possible until nothing is left but only the most vital of information.

  • Bullets are great.
  • People don’t read entire web pages.
  • They scan them and look for parts that interest them.
  • Making your content “scannable” will ensure your visitors get your point without making them read a novel.

These are the 3 most important aspects of a website that must be considered before even thinking about the design of the site. Your site can be super ugly, but if you nail these 3 things, it will more than make up for it.

Categories : Website Design
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9 Easy Ways to Get More Fans for your Facebook Page

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Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Facebook Fan PagesJust because you built a Facebook page for your business doesn’t mean fans will find you. You have to promote it. There are many ways to do it, but here are a few very easy ways that maybe you haven’t thought of.

Put a Button or Widget on Your Website

If you have traffic to your site, make it easy for your visitors to find you on Facebook by putting a big button that says Find Us On Facebook directly on your website. You can also use one of the many Facebook Social Plugins that Facebook provides. You just build widget on Facebook and they give you the code to embed it on your site.

Email Your Newsletter Subscribers

If you already have an email newsletter, then you have an audience of people that would probably love to become a fan of your page. Just make it easy for them by sending them an email with a link to your page.

Add a Link to Your Email Signature

In your email signature block, you can include links to your facebook page. You can even include a button that attracts attention. If you are using a web based email like Gmail, then check out Wisestamp, which will make it easy for you to create a signature. If you use Outlook or a local email client, you will have to do it manually.

Ask Your Walk-In Customers

If you have a retail store, then you could put a small business card size flyer in your customer’s shopping bag at checkout asking them to find you on Facebook. If you can customize your receipts, have it print out on the receipt.

Put a Display Up in Your Store or Business

Put up a big display at the checkout counter or receptionist desk at your business.

Incentivize It

Let people know that you run special offers and coupons on your Facebook page to encourage them to become fans.

Add a Link on Your Personal Profile

If you have a personal Facebook profile, add a link to your business page in the Bio that gets displayed on  the left side.

Use the Share Button

Occasionally go to your business page and click the Share button at the bottom left so it will be posted on your wall. You can also do this for posts that you make on your business page wall.

Run Facebook Ads

When you are on your Facebook page, there is a link on the left that says Promote With an Ad. Facebook has a very easy ad interface that allows you to target users by gender, age, location, and interests. It even tells you approximately how many users your ad will reach. It’s a very cost effective advertising platform that allows you to choose your own budget.

Let’s hear from you. What have you done to increase your fan base on Facebook?

Categories : Social Media
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Social Media Revolution 2

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Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Do you think a website is all you need to be successful online? Do you think social media is just a fad? Do you think you can still ignore it? Watch this video and let us know if you still think that way. Feel free to leave a comment below.

Categories : Social Media
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Google Announces App Gallery for Analytics

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Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Google AnalyticsGoogle has announced an app gallery for their Analytics tool which should bring about some interesting developments. There are already 32 apps in the gallery but I would expect many more to come.

What does this mean? It means that people will develop apps that help us better understand what’s happening on our websites and what our visitors are doing. It will help us find keyword opportunities, build better landing pages, and ultimately create more revenue from our websites.

I’m looking forward to exploring the apps that are already in the gallery and I’m excited to see what comes next!

Categories : Search Engine Optimization
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Should You Have a Facebook Page For Your Business?

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Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Facebook Fan PagesThe short answer, is absolutely yes. You need to have a Facebook Page setup for your business.

Since it’s birth, the number of unique visitors to Facebook has doubled every year and it’s not slowing down. In terms of the amount of traffic Facebook gets, it’s already surpassing Google.

For those reasons, it’s becoming an incredible marketing tool. I’m not talking about going out there and spamming all your friends about your business every day. I’m talking about just being out there. Get your page up and just let people know you exist.

I’ll get into how to get fans to your page in another post, but for now, if you don’t have a Facebook page yet, just get out there and create one. It’s easy. Here’s how:

1. Go to http://www.facebook.com and create an account for yourself if you haven’t already. This is not for your business. This is for you. If you already have one for yourself, just login.
2. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and setup your page for your business.

It’s really that easy so there’s no excuse not to do it. If you get stuck on something, just grab the nearest teenager or twenty something and ask them to help you. It really only takes a few minutes.

The next step is getting fans for your business page. Stay tuned for that post coming up soon!

Categories : Social Media
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Google Local Business Center Now Google Places

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Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Google has decided to rename the Local Business Center to Google Places. According to the Google Maps Blog, this was done to better integrate businesses Place Pages with Google Maps.

They are also embracing QR codes which are like bar codes that can be scanned by some mobile devices and the user will be taken directly to your business Place Page.

The world of mobile and local business marketing is really starting to take off and if you own a business that caters to your local area, you really need to go and claim your business on Google Places.

Categories : Local Search
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Google vs Yellow Pages

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Saturday, April 17th, 2010

It’s funny to me that in the last few years I’ve seen an increase in the number of phone books I get on my door step, even though Google and other local search engines are making them obsolete. Now more than ever, it’s vital that your business is listed in Google Maps because that’s where everyone goes to find local businesses.

This video says it all.

Categories : Local Search
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Google Using Site Speed in Web Search Ranking

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Friday, April 16th, 2010

Last week, Google confirmed that they are considering a sites load time in their search rankings. This is because Google is obsessed with giving its users the best, most relevant content when they are searching online. Considering site speed will make sure they are getting higher quality websites in their results.

What does this mean for website owners?

Web users tend to have ADD when they come to a website. If the page doesn’t load fast, they click the back button and go to the next site. They don’t have time to wait around for a thousand images to load. So having a fast site has always been important if you want your visitors to stay and check it out.

Now having a slow site can also cost you rankings. If your site and your competitor’s site are basically equal when it comes to SEO value, but their site is fast while yours takes forever to load, they will beat you in rankings and get more visitors than you. It’s that simple.

What can you do to make sure your site doesn’t get penalized?

There are many things that can slow down a website. The most common are huge amounts of graphics and excessive flash animation. Make sure your images are optimized for file size. A little flash is ok, but don’t go crazy with it. It gets annoying to users anyway.

Don’t panic!

While Google is considering site speed, it’s nowhere near the top of the list of things they consider when ranking websites. The most important factors are still things like relevance, domain age, back links, etc.

However, it’s good business to have a site that doesn’t make your visitors wait to see your content. They will never see your offer if they click the back button before the page loads.

Using site speed in web search ranking

Categories : Search Engine Optimization
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