I will give you a big hint as to what many of the most successful small businesses are doing right now to be successful and that is online marketing!

Your customers are online and searching before they pick up the phone or jump into their vehicles to go shopping.

According to searchenginewatch.com the average small business in the US spent $2327.00 on search advertising in the 3rd quarter of 2010.They claim that is an increase of 43 percent over the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Is there any wonder some businesses are getting new customers and others aren’t?

If you aren’t even involved in Search Advertising you are already losing a ton of business to your competitors.

And this report isn’t for small businesses that have any higher margins than others. Many of the businesses surveyed were typical small businesses such as automotive, roofing, and air conditioning companies.

The mantra for a small business has always been Location, Location, Location. And today that location is on the first page of the 3 major search engines,Google, Bing and Yahoo.

If your business is not there consider yourself if not doomed to at least on your way to oblivion in your niche.

You can’t compete.

Online Marketing Tips

Growth strategies facilitate the growth from the organization. Marketing warfare strategies are conjunction of marketing strategies and military strategies. A online marketing strategy or a mixture of them is chosen only after thorough …

Publish Date: 11/04/2010 16:29

http://www.articlebliss.com/Art/519060/53/Online-Marketing-Tips.html

Internet Marketing Solution-Give solution to the growth of your …

Internet Marketing Solution-Give solution to the growth of your business. If you want your internet marketing softwareservice to reach to large people then you should have good online internet marketing solution strategy which can help …

Publish Date: 11/03/2010 2:52

http://www.fashioninus.com/internet-marketing-solution-give-solution-to-the-growth-of-your-business.html

Demand for online marketing services increasing, survey finds …

Commenting on the results for Search Engine Land, Matt McGee noted while pay per click and email marketing has seen the least growth, there were few indications of a decrease in popularity. The timing of the report coincides with a …

Publish Date: 11/03/2010 7:42

http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/demand-for-online-marketing-services-increasing-survey-finds-800214125/

By luckytom72 at 11/02/2010 13:39

By 4OnlineBusiness at 11/02/2010 3:37

Online Marketing is Growing Fast.mp4

Interactive spend will near 55 billion dollars by 2014, according to Forresters five year forecast. Watch this clip to hear from Vice President of Forrester Research Shar VanBoskirk, as she explains the projected growth and future trends of online ma…

Article by Carlos Gamez

Image by boboroshi

In my conversations with business owners I see that there are those that look to the future with great expectations and those that are seriously concerned.

The new tax act delivers increased deductions for start up expenses and allows for stock holders to pay less taxes on the sales of their small business shares*.

At the same time costs for businesses in other areas are going up, especially in the employment category. Not only are good employees hard to find but they are expensive! Then again so are the bad employees.This is a tricky area for small business owners as they need employees but can find it difficult to afford them

Quote:
In the latest report on the cost of regulation, the SBA Office of Advocacy finds that the cost of regulatory compliance for the smallest businesses (under 20 employees) has increased from $7,647 per employee per year in 2005 to $10,585 in 2008. So just as the recession was taking hold, small business had to divert 38% more per employee just to meet the demands of growing regulation. This cost is 36% higher than the same per employee cost facing larger businesses with over 500 employees.**

I see this as a time of opportunity. Yes we are in a recession. Ok I get it. Business is slower than it has been. Alright.

But to “agree ” to “ride it out” or “see what happens” is an admission of an inability to actually “do anything” about it.

Successful people do not “wait it out”, they move forward on track and on purpose.

The American small business owner has always been the driving force behind the growth of the USA. All the big businesses we have were all once small businesses,right?

Here are my suggestions:

1. Make the decision to expand your business NOW.

2. Go to the office supply store and buy yourself a gallon of midnight oil and start burning some of it to come up with some bright ideas on how you can build up your business.

3. Start Marketing your business with a vengeance. Let people know you are there for them let them know you have the products and services they want. Make them confident in the fact that you can provide them with what they want Now.

4. Use the Internet! It is less expensive than traditional marketing media. It has the more customer eyeballs than traditional marketing media and it is extremely more effective than traditional media.

5. Stop just accepting that everyone is holding back and waiting. Just stop it.

6 Start creating the idea that we can succeed and promote it hard. Deliver good service make your customers happy .Tell them to bring in their friends.

7. America, the future of our small businesses depends on our willingness to make them successful just as we have always done whenever times were tough.

*http://blogs.forbes.com/robertwood/2010/10/06/big-tax-changes-in-small-business-tax-law/

**http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Entrepreneurial-Mind/2010/1004/Rising-regulatory-costs-strangling-small-business

Government Grants for Small Business

In order for us to get out of this recession, it is essential for small businesses to be successful. Statistics show that these businesses employ more than half the US population. Therefore, it is vital for these owners to have access …

Publish Date: 10/05/2010 23:10

http://www.dreamboxvault.com/government-grants-for-small-business-2/

Small Business Questions & Answers

I’ve got satisfactory money to start most any business, but I don’t know which ones are ususally successful. I don’t need to obtain rich, and don’t want an internet or creative concept, just a regular small business. …

Publish Date: 10/06/2010 8:09

http://www.dreamboxvault.com/small-business-questions-answers-3/

Mothers, ideas to make your Small Business Office Your Own …

There may be benefits to the owner of a home-based small businesses, such as the possibility of usingSome of the expenditure budget, more time with family and more time raising children as a tax deduction. …

Publish Date: 10/05/2010 12:13

http://owningyourownbusiness.small-businessmarketinginfo.com/owning-your-own-business/mothers-ideas-to-make-your-small-business-office-your-own/

Google’s Matt Cutts gives tips to small business owners

www.reachd.com Rodney Bartlett interviews Google’s Matt Cutts at Pubcon 2007 in Las Vegas. Matt had some excellent tips for small business owners and answered a few great questions.

Business: Small Business and the Recession – nytimes.com/video

Nearly a year after economists deemed the recession over, some small businesses in New York City have yet to see sign of recovery. This report is part of an ongoing series following small businesses. Related Link: nyti.ms

Article by Carlos Gamez
Image by stephen.moore

I conversed with people in many different fields, Chiropractic, auto repair, auto and personal insurance services and home improvement.

The common denominators of the group was their certainty that the recession was seriously affecting their businesses and that online marketing wasn’t everything it was touted to be.

Most had previous “bad” results using the internet to do marketing.

Knowing, of course that Online Marketing works and works extremely especially for small local business I found the conviction with which these business owners were speaking simply amazing.

I was able to re-open the door to some of them based on solid reasoning, but still it bothers me that there are people out there selling themselves as Online Marketing Experts that obviously do not know what they are doing.

It is a crime really as they not only have taken someone’s hard earned pay and wasted it delivering nothing in return, but, they have left their victims with a belief that Online Marketing,wildly effective as it is, doesn’t work. That ruins that persons Marketing plans for his entire future!

I was speaking with my friend Bill McIntosh about this and he was vehement about the subject. He told me that the biggest issue is that the average business owner simply doesn’t have time enough in the day to learn enough about the subject to know when he is being sold a bill of goods.

And the typical “Online Marketing ” person really doesn’t t have a full understanding of what it takes really to deliver an effective and successful marketing campaign. Typically they know how to do 1 or 2 things relatively well.  But they are missing knowledge of or a thorough understanding of all the rest of the actions that must be taken for a legitimate long term successful Internet Marketing campaign.

The sad thing is that they think they know what they are doing !
That is the most dangerous person there is, the person that thinks he knows. He is dangerous because he never questions his methods .He simply “knows” they work even when they are failing and damaging his clients. And because of that he fails and takes his clients with him!

Online Marketing for Small Business works amazingly well…When it is done right !

If you have had bad results then it wasn’t done correctly, or the appropriate actions just weren’t taken at all. Don’t stop doing Online marketing, find some one that knows what they are doing and  you will be very surprised.

A Brief Introduction To Online Marketing For Small BusinesseTop …

A blog is an effective online marketing tool for small businesses. Sites such as WordPress offer free blogs with templates and SEO plugins’ allowing you to reach your audience quickly and easily. Blogs are commonly used as online …

Publish Date: 09/29/2010 13:42

http://topbusinesspick.com/a-brief-introduction-to-online-marketing-for-small-businesse

Using Your Competition to Establish Online Marketing Goals …

Basically, I told people that all of the tricks and optimizations and clever tactics are a waste of time for the average marketer. Despite the millions of pixels that have been used to explai […] Search Engine Guide : Small Business …

Publish Date: 09/30/2010 8:01

http://www.inteloquent.com/2010/09/30/using-your-competition-to-establish-online-marketing-goals-2/

What Online Marketing Did for My Small BusinessTop Business Pick …

I run a small business that offers enterprise resource management solutions for small and medium businesses. Online marketing has looked after the sales and promotion part of the business well. The efforts in advertising and endorsing a …

Publish Date: 09/30/2010 10:04

http://topbusinesspick.com/what-online-marketing-did-for-my-small-business

Get The Complete Internet Marketing Training & Coaching Class By Bill Mcintosh

www.businessinnercircle.com Get The Complete Internet Marketing Training & Coaching Class… Not Just Another eBook To Fill Your Harddrive. You get actual understanding, Implementation & Results Sign Up To The Early-Bird List & Get Your 50% Off Disco…

Publish Date: 09/28/2010 18:42

http://billmcintosh.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/211/

Bill McIntosh Contest $ 10000: WordPress Plugin Viral Marketing …

More Online Marketing Bill McIntosh and use this cool WordPress plugin to hen traffic to your business website to be obtained?. One of the best Internet marketing techniques with viral marketing, advertising? viral campaign or a vid? o …

Publish Date: 09/18/2010 21:20

http://viralizeit.com/2010/09/bill-mcintosh-contest-10000-wordpress-plugin-viral-marketing-twitter-facebook-more/

Article by Carlos Gamez

Image from Orange County Archives

http://www.hbshowcase.com

An important point of focus for this years Showcase is Internet Marketing.

The showcase will feature speakers covering numerous topics, all related to making strategic use of Online Marketing in the Hispanic Business Community.

While the Economy in the US and the world sags and struggles along fitfully. E-commerce has been thriving for the last 5 years. The online marketing numbers are growing everyday.

One issue is that though the rate of growth of Hispanic owned small businesses is expected to be close to the 7.6%, it is also noted that the Hispanic Business Community has not taken advantage of the Internet as regards the expansion and growth of  their businesses.

The Hispanic Business Showcase hopes to bring that issue to a close and open up the Internet for the Hispanic Small Business community.

There will be seminars speakers and many other  amazing services delivered at the showcase.

One of the Noted Speakers is my friend, and well known Internet Marketing Maven, Bill McIntosh. Bill’s talk will cover “How to use Viral Marketing and Social Media to drive a flood of Traffic to Your Website.”

Bill will also be available to meet and greet Saturday all day after his talk.

All in all The Hispanic Business Showcase looks to be an amazing 2 days of networking and learning opportunity. I hope to see you there!

BIC Partners With The Hispanic Chamber Of E-Commerce To Provide …

The National Business Information Clearinghouse (BIC) will be conducting a Minority Business Forum during the 2010 Hispanic Business Showcase, hosted by the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce (HISCEC) on September 10, 2010 at the San Diego …

Publish Date: 08/27/2010 12:12

http://laprensa-sandiego.org/stories/bic-partners-with-the-hispanic-chamber-of-e-commerce-to-provide-entrepreneurs-critical-business-information-2/

The 2010 Hispanic Business Showcase Announces Speakers, Panelists …

The 2010 Hispanic Business Showcase Announces Speakers, Panelists, and Keynote. Leading business experts to speak on the growing importance of the Internet and technology in today’s Hispanic business environment. The business seminars …

Publish Date: 07/02/2010 14:06

http://www.prlog.org/10773875-the-2010-hispanic-business-showcase-announces-speakers-panelists-and-keynote.html

First TV Spot for the Hispanic Business Showcase | Tayde Aburto

The Hispanic Business Showcase is coming soon. I’ve been attending lots of meetings, placing a lot of calls and marketing the show every time I can. We are.

Publish Date: 07/03/2010 23:48

http://taydeaburto.com/first-tv-spot-for-the-hispanic-business-showcase/

San Diego Hispanic Business Showcase

Promotional video for the 2010 Hispanic Business Showcase that will be held on September 10-11, 2010 at the San Diego Convention Center. The expo is a two-day event intended to expand the Hispanic market frontier by showcasing and connecting Hispanic…

Hispanic Business and Technology Expo | San Diego, California

The Hispanic Business and Technology expo is a two-day event intended to expand the Hispanic market frontier by showcasing and connecting Hispanic businesses to decision-makers in the public and private sectors. Its also intended to introduce busines…

Article by : Carlos Gamez

Image by: Kevin Dooley

The basic concept is that the Internet is a public channel available to everyone, business owner, online Marketer and consumer alike to use on an equal footing. This would mean that a large corporation would not get more access or better access or faster service than anyone else.

But there are those that want to “own” a bigger piece of the pie and that aren’t satisfied “sharing” with everyone else.There are large corporations right now that want to make Internet usage based on money. In other words they want the bandwidth that is there now for all to use to be given to the highest bidder and the heck with the rest of them !

As you can see this would mean the death of small businesses all over the world and open the door to complete commercial dominance by a few very deep pocketed Corporations.

I suggest that as an Internet Marketing business owner you start to understand and get involved in Net Neutrality. That is ,if you want to keep your business alive !

Net Neutrality

Marvin Ammori: About the Verizon/Google Deal on Net Neutrality Yesterday Bloomberg reported that Verizon and Google have made a deal on network neutrality policy they’d like to see in American. That deal (surprise!

Publish Date: 08/05/2010 11:04

http://www.tappz.com/net-neutrality/

Google Won’t Violate Net Neutrality If It Can Redefine It First …

Once bitter opponents in the net neutrality debate, Google and Verizon reportedly are now allies in a joint proposal they hope will be a model for network neutrality legislation. Sources tell the New York Times and others that the two …

Publish Date: 08/05/2010 6:56

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100805/google-verizon-talk-net-neutrality-deal/

By TechCrunch at 08/05/2010 12:21

Loaded: Google, Verizon in tiered-Net traffic talks

Google is shutting down its real-time messaging system known as Google Wave, the iPhone dev team releases a carrier unlock for jailbroken iPhones, and Google and Verizon are apparently near a deal to pay for tiered Web traffic in a blow to Net neutra…

Article by Carlos Gamez

Business Development Manager

McIntosh Marketing

Image by Salty_soul

Even though it is not a full on Firefox Browser it is a pretty impressive iPhone approved application.  If you are not a big Firefox user then this may not interest you as much OR may convince you to become one.  This awesome new application allows you to sync up with the Firefox Browser on your home or office PC.  It is 100% free and can be uploaded onto your iPhone or iPod Touch.

My favorite thing is the ability to be able to pick up at any time and stay connected with exactly what you were already doing.  This is really neat because it allows you to be working or playing on your PC and then literally you can pick up your iPhone or iPod Touch, sync up to the browser you were just on and now take what you were doing along with you by mobile.  This is great for a number of reasons like when you loose track of time and are running late, now you can literally just pick up and go!  Also handy for those last minute appointments or emergencies that tend to come up when you are in the middle of a really important project with an upcoming deadline.  Now you can take the urgent work with you and get the that appointment or handle that emergency all while staying on top of and completing your work.

My favorite things about Firefox Home is the ability to take your favorite bookmarks with you anywhere you go.  Have you ever gone to meet up with friends or co-workers and wanted to share something you were just checking out online?  Or wanted to pull up an informative page during an important business meeting or conversation?  Or even just want to compare prices before making a large purchase?  Just search for what you want on your personal or office PC and then sync up with your mobile phone and take it with you while you go shopping.  I really love this ability and think it has been a long time coming.  So don’t delay and download it for free and see how it can make your life easier today!

The world is changing “technologically” right before our eyes and this means opportunity for you and your business.

I saw yesterday a brilliant man extremely successful and extremely influential in his area of expertise make a pointed statement against those in the Internet Marketing field.

His statement was that the Internet wasn’t a technology medium, but a people medium.

Well, duh! Of course it is a people media that is what all of life is about.

But I will counter that with out technology and the ability to use it, predict future trends and the skill needed to work with the ever changing and evolving technology of the Internet, your ability to reach millions of people at any given time would be very quickly be reduced to going to mixers and getting your message out to 20 people at a time.

Ok, enough with run on sentences and berating Mixers. Mixers are a viable and fantastic way to meet people. The point is that without technology and knowledgeable people to manage it for you, your effectiveness would be zilcho friendo.

Which brings me to my point: The Mobile Marketing Arena.

Why are the big boys all at each others throats fighting for position and market share? There are many reasons but lets take a quick look at just one aspect of this.

Google has just made available the new Google App Inventor for Android. This means my friend that you and I can now create apps ourselves for the android phones that we use.

Here are some business ideas:

For a restaurant–how about an app that lets your customers place to go orders right from their phones!

How about an app that lets your customers pay their monthly bills from their mobile device?  How about car payments? Rent payments?

How about an app that lets them schedule a Dental appointment on the go…Or a hair appointment?

How about an app that lets your clients track the progress of their custom order right from their phones?

Now let’s bring this back home now and take it out of the business realm for a sec.

How about an app that takes your recorded notes and places then directly into your calendar.

How about an app that automatically tells you where your kids are physically located (right now) using GPS.

Do  not believe those that tell you technology is nothing and that you don’t need people to help you with it.  It is a silly notion.

At McIntosh Marketing we can help you take advantage of the mobile  phenomenon and boom your business.

Let’s get creative and make a difference now!

Article by Carlos Gamez
Director of Business Development
carlos@mcintoshmarketing.com

Image by 3:19

One of the most important things you must do before deciding to market for a company is to inspect the website.  Take your time to check and make sure they have accurate contact information by calling them or looking them up in an online phone directory.  You can also take this time to verify their address.  If you notice the address varies with other listings online then this may be a flag that the business is not legitimate.  This is not always the case as others may be marketing this product as an affiliate as well but the corporate information, address and phone number should all match up regardless.

PAY ATTENTION!!!   You should always make sure their site offers details, images and a full description of the product or service that they are offering.  You are responsible for what you are promoting so it is very important that you educate yourself on the product or service prior to any affiliate marketing promotions.

Always check the sites disclosure on what the charges will be to the users/client’s.  This will show you that there is nothing the company is trying to hide and that it is not a scam.  If there is no disclosure on the site it may be a real good sign to take your business somewhere else.

Next you should search for their company name on Google.  This will show you how well they are ranking currently which can give you some insight on how easy or difficult it may be to market the product.  Like I said, this is just for insight and it may not be accurate for a product that is brand new.  Also at this time you can see what kind of feedback people are giving on the product prior to committing to selling it.  You can see if there are lot’s of customer complaints or satisfaction which can help you make your decision before investing any time or money into it.  You have to be realistic when using this tip to make a decision because many companies will have complaints, regardless of their legitimacy, so you may need to feel them out to see if the complaints are valid.

Allot goes into finding an legitimate affiliate with a good offer besides just how much they pay out.  Always make sure you feel 100% informed about your product so you are totally comfortable prior to selling it.  Confidence and believing in your product truly is the key to increasing your online sales and making your affiliate marketing really worth it!

deep linking – linking to a web page other than a site’s home page.

description tag – an HTML tag used by Web page authors to provide a description for search engine listings.

impression – a single instance of an online advertisement being displayed.*

interactive agency – an agency offering a mix of Web design/development, Internet advertising/marketing, or E-Business/E-Commerce consulting.

keyword research – the search for keywords related to your Web site, and the analysis of which ones yield the highest return on investment (ROI).

search engine optimization – the process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a Web search.

By taking the time to learn these terms you will not only become more knowledgeable of Internet marketing but just by reading them you will start to understand more and more of what actually goes into your marketing.  I feel this list is pretty thorough list and can help even the beginning marketer to understand the terms of the online marketing world better.  Not only will you be able to learn more about the terms but once you start to understand them you will learn more about how marketing is actually done!

With the advent and proliferation of social media, those who want to bring about positive social influence have a powerful venue to find their voice, as well as access to an almost unlimited audience to hear their words of wisdom or dissent.

Imagine if Thomas Jefferson, Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. had access to this powerful medium. They would have not only embraced the technology, but the opportunity to reach tens of millions with their powerful message of social justice and equality.

If you are someone who is trying to bring about positive social influence, regardless of your cause or dream, you need to embrace social media, blogging and all internet marketing tools. One such example is The Route Out, http://www.therouteout.org/. They have come to realize that we need to have ethical leaders in order to get our country out of the many messes it now faces. At the core of our problems of our nation, The Route Out recognizes that we need leaders with integrity.  Using the non-religious book, The Way to Happiness, http://www.thewaytohappiness.org/ as their main text, they aim to bring about social reform at the very top with our Congressional leaders.

And the people at The Route Out are not alone. Hundreds of millions of people are members of social betterment, civic, political and religious organizations trying to bring about a better world. To truly be effective in delivering your message, you need to develop a comprehensive online marketing and social media strategy. And that strategy starts with a commitment to not only your cause, but equally to become a dedicated student, educating yourself on how to bring that message via your web site.

Suggestions: Read “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott, subscribe to our blog, attend seminars on social media and internet marketing tools, read books and in general learn from those that are experiencing success.

If you are trying to change the world for the better, I salute you. Now take your commitment and as well become an educated denizen of internet marketing and social media.