A small business development series for Portland's finest indie businesses.
Feedback is so crucial to your small biz success—I call it “oxygen for business.” Without it, how do you know that you’re offering the right things, at the right price, to solve your customer’s real problems? When it comes to getting feedback, the web has a distinct disadvantage to offline because of the lack of context—online, it is hard to figure out a good timeto jump in and more...
When you started your business, you were likely excited by the fact that you could finally do what you love for a living. Then you found out that being the founder/CEO/big cheese included a lot more responsibilities than you bargained for, like sales and marketing and, of course, writing. Given the swelling popularity of content marketing platforms like blogs and social media, being able to find your way around a more...
To call the myriad offerings on the Internet extensive may be a slight understatement. And while it’s tempting to generalize the growth of the Internet as exponential, the reality is the Internet’s growth is actually sigmoidal (apparently), or S-shaped. In this choice-filled online world, small business owners know best that the vast number of options available, in everything, online are overwhelming. more...
Visual content is on the rise in social media and popular as ever in other mediums. According to Portland SEO consultant Michael Cottam, last night's presenter at the October Search Engine Marketing Association of Portland (SEMpdx) event, original images even keep Google's Panda happy. In a nutshell: Image is everything. But before you shell out a lot of dough on a camera setup for your business, consider more...
The use of visual media online is rising. Photos are the stars of social sites like Pinterest and Instagram, and experts recommend adding photos to your website or blog to attract more eyeballs and improve SEO. But if you’re not a photographer, how do you get the photos you need? Here are some common mistakes made by small business owners: Using a photo found via Google Images or other search engines. more...
A blog is like the Leatherman of marketing tools for small business owners. It’s an efficient and affordable tool that can help you perform a variety of essential tasks. It may not be able to open that flat top beer can, but a blog—hosted on your business’ website—can help you with everything from establishing your company’s credibility to improving your search engine optimization. more...
Getting customers through your doors in today’s marketplace is really tough. The business landscape is competitive, the economy is uncertain, and people are really picky about where they spend their money. If trying to figure out how to make your small business stand out online is stressing you out, you’re not alone. One of the most effective ways to build trust, rank in local search, and generate the more...
“Roughly 30 percent of all searches have a local intent,” says John McPhee, the vice president of Formic Media, a Portland firm that specializes in search and social media for small businesses. “This equates to roughly 18-20 billion searches per month,” he continues. “With reviews being served within the search results, it’s imperative that business owners get in the review more...