SmartWayMarketing.Com

Is this short article for you?

I just got off the phone with a very good man. We had met at a meetup meetin on SEO and had some things in common. He called to ask me if I bought a certain internet product.

I had not but offered other products tht he could borrow at no charge. As it turned out, he had MORE products than I had ever bought but never did anything with.

In fact he could not remember al the ones he had stacked up at his home!!

What’s the problem here? Has this ever happened to you? It’s not uncommon at all.

What my good freind must do is STOP BUYING and start DOING!

I told him to take one off the shelf and take the opportunity it offered to either a yes, I can do this or no, I cannot. He needs to find out why he would rather BUY that DO.

We all know it is much easier to just throw money at stuff and hope something happens like the tim I bought my treadmill. It’s the funniest thing. It just sat there and wouldn’t help me lose some fat unless I got on it and did something. Crazy.

So, if you are like my friend who needs some help with FOCUS, let me know and I will help you too. We are all in this together and the ones who raise their hand for help are the ones who move ahead.

See ya at the top!!
Austin

The easiest way to meet lots of people who are interested in partnering with you is through Social Networking.

There is a lot of people who have an account at Facebook or Twitter but don’t really know how to use them to build a business.

In the past few years, it has become easier to build personal relationships through the Internet. College students have known how to use the Internet to build relationships for at least five years. The business community is finally catching up and realizing the usefulness of viral social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter that allow you to easily meet and create strong relationships with other people on the Internet.

Here are some reasons why you should consider implementing these strategies in your business:

- Access to your target audience.

Online networking provides unprecedented access to your ideal clients. You can learn a lot about your clients from the information that they share on their social networking profiles and by who else they are following. Also, it is easier to become someone’s friend on a social networking platform (because it is a two-way connection) than it is to get them to join your mailing list.

- Social Networking is instant/viral.

You can communicate instantly (Twitter) with your customers. It is also very easy to pass on small bits of information. Some very successful social marketers have used this to get huge increases of traffic to their websites in a very short amount of time.

- Ability To Build Your Tribe

This is the area where online networking both resembles and outshines traditional networking. Building your tribe (or a community of dedicated followers) is like building your network. But, at the same time, online networks allow your community to talk to each other – and that can be a very powerful thing.

- Getting and Giving Help

The online community is very helpful. You can get (and more importantly) give instant answers to questions.

- Managing Reputation online

Participating in the social networking community is a great way to create a positive reputation online. You will come off as being approachable and in the know about technology.

Social Networking is the way of the future and the future is NOW!

It’s amazing what the thoughts and beliefs were 55 years ago.

Below are just a few things to think about, especially for us old enough to remember these to be true.

Here ya go!

‘I’ll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way

they are, it’s going to be impossible

To buy a week’s groceries for $20.00.

‘Have you seen the new cars coming out next year?

It won’t be long before $2,000.00 will only buy a

used one.

‘If cigarettes keep going up in price,

I’m going to quit.

A quarter a pack is ridiculous.

‘Did you hear the post office is thinking about

charging a dime just to mail a letter?

‘If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00,

Nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store. ‘

‘When I first started driving,

Who would have thought gas would someday cost 29cents a gallon..

Guess we’d be better off leaving the car in the garage.

[I just filled up today and it costs me over $50.00]

‘I’m afraid to send my kids to the movies any more..

Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying

DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND,

It seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.

‘I read the other day where some scientist thinks

it’s possible to put a man on the moon by the

end of the century.

They even have some fellows they call astronauts

preparing for it down in Texas .

‘Did you see where some baseball player just signed a

contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball?

It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be

making more than the President.

‘I never thought I’d see the day all our kitchen

appliances would be electric.

They are even making electric typewriters now.

‘It’s too bad things are so tough nowadays..

I see where a few married women are having to work

to make ends meet.

‘It won’t be long before young couples are going to

have to hire someone

To watch their kids so they can both work.

‘I’m afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the

door to a whole lot of foreign business.

‘Thank goodness I won’t live to see the day when the

Government takes half our income in taxes.

I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best

people to congress.

‘The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather,

But I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.

‘There is no sense going to Lincoln

or Omaha anymore for a weekend,

It costs nearly $15.00 a night to stay in a hotel.

‘No one can afford to be sick anymore,

At $35.00 a day in the hospital it’s too rich for

my blood.’

‘If they think I’ll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.’

{ I was listening to a person today who said he paid $350.00 for a pair of jeans!!!!!!!!! True Story.}

Let me know of any you could add to this list. Thanks

I think Zig Ziglar may have said it best….

“If you help enough people get what they want, you’ll get what you want”

I want you to think about what you can give that has great value to others but when you give it, there is NO hint of how you could possibly prosper from your offer.

How’s that for a unique idea.

Try this and watch what happens.

You might even confuse some people but one thing is for sure, you’re going to love doing it and you WILL see others wanting to give back to you.

Tip- You are doing this because you want to help others.. not to receive anything at all in return, it’s just that it will happen and you won’t be able to stop it. [Not that you would want to]

OK,that’s it for today but I urge you to put this into action NOW.

If you need help or ideas, just let me know!

Austin

Finding Geo-Targeted Keywords Using Google Analytics

Published By Martin Aranovitch

You can use ‘geo-targeted keywords’ to restrict your PPC ad campaigns to consumers in specific cities or states where your company is looking to improve its reputation and/or increase sales …

What Are Geo-Targeted Keywords?

If you use pay-per-click advertising solutions such as Google AdWords, you are probably familiar with a feature called “geo-targeting” that helps to ensure that your ad only displays to people in a particular location that you specify.

You can also use ‘geo-targeted keywords’ to restrict your PPC ad campaigns to consumers in specific cities or states where your company is looking to improve its reputation and/or increase sales. Geo-targeted keywords will provide you with highly targeted traffic and these keywords will most likely have a significantly lower amount of competition. A lower amount of competition means a better chance of ranking higher in the search results.

What Is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free analytics package that generates detailed statistics about visitors to your website. It is one of the best tools available for analyzing traffic on your website. Not only is it FREE and requires very little to set up, but it will give you an enormous amount of information about who is coming to your site, what they’re looking for, and how they’re getting there.

With Google Analytics you can see how many people are visiting and interacting with your website, where they are coming from, what they are doing when they visit your site and how many of your visitors are converting into leads or customers. It also helps you identify the exact keywords, ads, referrals and campaigns that are contributing most to your bottom line.

Google Analytics is an extremely powerful tool and is free to everyone - advertisers, publishers, or site owners. For more information about Google Analytics click here.

How To Find Geo-Targeted Keywords Using Google Analytics

Advertising with Google Adwords is a very cost-effective way to reach the most targeted and relevant audience for your products and services. By using the tools that Google Analytics offers to help make the most out of geo-targeted keywords, you can maximize your AdWords results and sales conversions.

For many businesses, for instance, relevance varies by region. You wouldn’t want to waste money advertising snow removal services in Florida. Another example is let’s say you sell patio or outdoor furniture. While you may want to target patio furniture to the entire country during the summer season, in the fall you’d probably only want to target the Southern states that don’t get snow. Using Google Analytics to help plan your geo-targeted keyword campaigns can dramatically help you increase your sales conversion rates.

If you are experiencing difficulty choosing which areas to use geo-targeted keywords with, Google Analytics can help you expand your business and increase visibility by helping you decide what markets to enter. There may be potential markets that you haven’t even thought of targeting. You could be losing revenue and not even know about it.

The Map Overlay Report allows you to see exactly where traffic from your general search campaigns is coming from. Clicking on the ‘Goal Conversion’ tab allows you to see out of all the areas that have the highest traffic, which regions had the highest conversion rate.

If you find a location that has had steady traffic and a high conversion rate, this may be a great opportunity for you to increase your sales even further in that area. I would recommend you set up a separate campaign for any regions that you identify as being highly profitable. The, for each of your regional campaigns, be sure to use geo-targeted keywords that will appeal to the consumers in these identified regions even more.

Once you’ve decided which regions you want to run specialized campaigns in, log into your Google Adwords account. To choose your campaign geographically, edit the campaign settings by going to the ‘target audience’ section, and choosing the geographic region that you want to target. There are several ways you can do this: by state, country, zip code or city. Play around with the settings a bit until you’re satisfied with the particular region you have chosen.

It’s really that easy! Now that you know where the ads will be running, make sure to write ads using geo-targeted keywords to draw customers in even more. You’ll be up and running with a geo-targeted campaign with regionally targeted ads in no time. This will not only create better results for your Google AdWords campaign, but it will most likely help you lower your CPC (cost-per-click), place your ad in less competitive search result listings, create more sales and improve your profit margins.

A new year is about to begin. If you are reading this later in the year, what goals have you met or on tract to accomplish? If none….get started now!!

Read below and be inspired.
Your friend,
Austin Helsel

“When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort,
we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.”

The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. “I will come next T uesday”, I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!”

My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.”

“Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.

“I was hoping you’d take me over to the garage to pick up my car.”

“How far will we have to drive?” “Just a few blocks,” Carolyn said. “I’ll drive. I’m used to this.” After several minutes, I had to ask, “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the garage!”

“We’re going to my garage the long way,” Carolyn smiled, “by way of the daffodils.” “Carolyn,” I said sternly, “please turn around.”

“It’s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign that read, “Daffodil Garden.”

We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight! It looked
as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns-great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon
yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

“But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn.

“It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You are asking” was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read.

The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

There it was, The Daffodil Principle.

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.

I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun-one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Still, just planting one bulb at a time,
year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable (indescribable) magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time–often just one baby-step at a time—and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn.

“What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said. It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use today?”

Do what is set before you to do! There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don’t need money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and, dance like no one’s watching.

Shocking Sales Turnaround

By Austin Helsel

Some say selling commercial printing is one of the most competitive markets there is. I was 28 years old and breaking into my 1st fulltime job as a “sales pro”. The company I worked for was a quality company but had no training to offer me other than “go out there and make us proud”. I sold a product that was 25% higher than all my competitors and had no special reasons why they should buy from me other than admiring my new JC Penny suit I proudly wore. I also had to ask the customer to drive 1 1/2 hours to see the job on press one way instead of 10 minutes to the local printer and then stay for a few hours or longer until we printed the other side for their approval. No easy task.
I had been trying for about 6 months at a large pharmaceutical company to let me price some of their printing jobs but I never could get through the gatekeeper who protected Ms. Walters from the printing sales hopefuls itching to get in the door.
After what seemed like eternity, I finally got my chance to price a printing job and called to give the price to Ms. Walters who I have never even had the chance to meet. When I asked for her, the gatekeeper wanted the price and would not let me talk to “Ms. Walters” so it seemed I had no choice but to give it to her and so I did. She relayed the price to Ms. Walters and I heard her say in the background “tell that man he’s going to have to do something about that price”. The gate keeper relayed that to me and I had to think fast so I said…
“OK, I’ll raise the price!”
The gatekeeper whispered into the phone- “Sir, you don’t want to do that” but I insisted for her to say it to “Ms. Walters” and I heard her say timidly….. “Ms. Walters, Mr. Helsel said he would do something about the price, he would raise it.
Immediately, I heard the strangest thing. Ms. Walters was laughing hysterically and to my shocking surprise said….
GIVE HIM THE JOB!!!
Ms Walters turned out to be a very nice lady and we did quite a bit more work together and often looked back and laughed at the “shocking turnaround” of that very special day.
It’s true, it could have gone the other way but after 6 months of trying, I really felt I did not have too much to lose.

Recently I heard a great quote about limitations.

“Sometimes you argue for your limitations and you get to keep them”

I liked it because we DO tend to talk about what we CAN’T Do too much.

We argue the point and it gets us nowhere.

Think about it in your life and be totally honest with yourself.

Ok, one more quote for today

“The grass is not greener on the other side,

it’s greener where ever you water it”

Did you like that one?

There are alot of ways to say it

but it comes down to you get what you pay for,

you earn what you put into it.

You get the point.

Do what you can and the rest will take care of itself.

You can’t control what other people do but you are in charge of you

What are you gonna do today to make your life and others better?

As a small business consultant, I have worked with hundreds of good people who really struggle with getting things done.

Most of them are always busy doing things that are important and maybe not so important.

We have all used “to do lists” and possibly been to seminars teaching us time management skills and other effective tricks.
For the small business owner in particular, everything seems like it needs done today and even if you get a good bit done, was it the best use of our time?

When it comes to getting your business on the internet, your website has many components. You have design your site or choose a designer, you need good copy, pictures taken of products and uploaded, you need autoresponders if you want to have an automatic ongoing relationship with those who visit your site and you need someone concentrating on traffic, getting prospects to your site.
And that’s not everything but you get the point.

Here is what I discovered.

Most good things in life are simple and this no different. We have been told in many ways that we can’t do two things well at the same time. Some people would argue with that claiming to multi-taskers and there are some things you can do at the same time but when it comes to important elements of you business, doing one thing at a time is the best way to go.

So, here is what to do.

Pick the very first thing that is needed get the job done. In other words, stay in the order that is needed to move to the immediate next step. Even if you like doing another step more or it is easier, resist the urge to jump ahead.
Sounds simple and it is when you put the order down on paper but sticking with it is where you will have to have the discipline.
Every time you are working on something, ask yourself if you are working out of order or in order.
It’s not a secret and it’s not new but it is common sense when you think about it. You can do it, I know you can and watch your projects get done it record time!

I look forward to hearing about your success.

A Beginner’s Guide to
Local Search Marketing

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t used a phonebook in over two years. I feel a slight twinge of guilt when the new one shows up on my doorstep, because I know it’s making a short trip from my front porch to the recycling bin. I started performing my searches for local goods and services online ages ago, and I haven’t looked back since.

It seems I’m not the only one. Recent studies indicate that print Yellow Pages will be all but defunct in the next four years. The myriad of local business information available on the Internet and the bevy of options you can use to find that information have made it easier, faster, and more convenient than flipping through that bulky yellow book.

What does this mean to you as a local business owner? Well, if you haven’t taken the time to list your business online, your competitors may be leaving you in the dust.

Whether you run a restaurant, auto body shop, pet grooming service, or landscaping company, taking the steps below to position your business in front of local customers will make a big difference to your bottom line.

The Anatomy of a Local Business Listing
There are certain elements of your online listing that will be similar across the board - in a local search engine, Internet Yellow Pages site, or customer review site. Not just limited to your company name, address, and phone number, online local business listings allow you to display a ton of information about your business - for free! I’m always amazed when I see bare bones listings that aren’t taking full advantage of this opportunity for free advertising, but it happens fairly often. Below is just a sample of the information you are usually allowed to display:

Company Name
Address
Phone Number
Fax Number
URL
E-Mail Address
Short Description of Business
Services, Products, and Brands Offered
Specialties and Amenities
Payment Options
Hours of Operation
Logo
Photos
User Reviews
Wow!

Right about now you might be saying, “But my local business listing only has my name, address, and phone number. What do I do? “The more information you can include with your listing, the more likely it is that you’ll attract a targeted customer. So let me show you the sites you need to visit to include more information.

Internet Yellow Pages
The most logical places for many people to start looking for local goods and services are the Internet Yellow Pages sites. If you are brand-new to updating and optimizing your company’s local listings, begin with these.

Just like the print Yellow Pages, the Internet Yellow Pages will automatically have a basic listing for your company. (It’s up to you to make the listing pop and really work to drive customers from their computer screens to your storefront.) And in addition to your free listing, many Internet Yellow Pages sites offer advertising and fee-based enhanced feature options.

Some of the most popular Internet Yellow Pages sites for you to start with are:

YellowPages.com
SuperPages.com
YellowBook.com
Local.com
Upon locating your listing, you may be surprised to find that it contains information that you didn’t provide. This is because customers, too, are allowed to update and add to the listings - all the more reason to take action to make sure your information is correct.

Local Search Engines
It didn’t take long for the major search engines to get in on the local scene. Each of them has a local version. Google has Google Maps, Yahoo has Yahoo Local, and Ask has AskCity.

They all have impressive features. But because of my unhealthy obsession with all things Google, and to give you a head start on the most market share, I’ll talk about Google Maps here.

As with the Internet Yellow Pages, your business will likely already have a listing in Google Maps. You can spice up that listing from Google’s Local Business Center. To edit your listing, Google requires you to “claim” your business first. So they send a postcard to the mailing address listed with a special PIN (personal identification number) that you will use. Naturally, this takes a few days. Once claimed, however, you can edit your listing to your heart’s content.

Your local business listing on Google allows for all the information listed above. Google also pulls a lot of user reviews from customer review sites (which I’ll explain in a moment). Additionally, Google offers a couple of really cool features that you simply must take advantage of:

1. Coupons. You can create a special offer coupon right alongside your listing and update it as often as you want. This is a great way to encourage people to visit your store.

2. Video (a feature that has been added fairly recently). That’s right. You can add a video that you’ve posted on YouTube to your Google Maps listing. How cool is that? Think of the possibilities! You could shoot a short commercial, record testimonials from happy customers, or even shoot footage of your clean restaurant teeming with enthusiastic diners.

Once you’ve perfected your listing on Google Maps, you can promote it through Google AdWords and target a particular region, city, or even neighborhood. For more information, and to get started, go to Maps.Google.com or Google.com/local/add.

Customer Review Websites
Customer review sites are arguably the most important of the three local search areas, because the content is user-generated. And, like I mentioned above, Google (and other local search engines) pulls customer reviews from these websites to display on your listing. So it’s important to be aware of what people are saying about your business.

Get a little PR for your business by encouraging your happy customers to post positive reviews of your company and its services. You can also benefit from monitoring any unfavorable reviews about you on these sites to see where you can make improvements.

Popular customer review sites include:

Yelp.com
InsiderPages.com
CitySearch.com
JudysBook.com
There are even specialized customer review sites like AngiesList.com for home improvement and MenuPages.com for restaurants.

A Quick Word About Mobile Search
Mobile search is usually mentioned in tandem with local search. After all, people are usually on the road when they are looking for things like food, gas, lodging, or the nearest pet store. The good news is that if you do the work to enhance your listings on all the sites mentioned in this article, you will be more than covered in the mobile search arena. Most, if not all, of the local search engines and Internet Yellow Pages have special mobile versions that are readable on mobile phones and other handhelds - including the ever-popular iPhone.

So get to work on your listings on Internet Yellow Pages sites, local search engines, and customer review sites. You’ll soon see a big improvement in your business - whether you run a one-person dog walking service or a local pizza franchise. And when delivery of that big, bulky print phonebook finally comes to a grinding halt, your business won’t miss a beat.

Contributed by Alexis Siemon
Guest Contributor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™

Alexis Siemon is the Search Engine Marketing Specialist for [1] Early to Rise (www.earlytorise.com). Early to Rise is a free, daily, online newsletter full of useful ideas about marketing, business building, investing, natural health, and much more.