So I try to clarify and say that you need, as a business owner, to have as many links as you can to your Website anywhere you can find on the Internet.  People than say… Ok Chris, how do I do that??

I then rattle off a litany of locations that businesses can put links to their sites. LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, Merchant Circle, etc, etc, etc.

But darn it, people still want more places. LOL!  I then tell them to go to Google and type in what their business does and see what comes up. There’s always lots of directories where they can list themselves. But then they ask.. well, what else can I do? LOL, still more you ask……

Well here’s a new one that I just learned the other day (thank you Diane Stewart with www.colorsenseconsulting.com ) Diane in her day to day activities is out reading tons of blogs. What she now does is comment on the blogs she reads and puts a link back to her Web site. Wow!!! What a great idea!

Google loves the technology behind blogs and finds blog entries easy to read. So if you’re out there reading blog posts (Like this one…   Write a comment and put a link back to your business Website in that comment.  If the comment is relevant to the post and not just a blatant sales pitch for your company, it might actually get accepted. AND, tada… you have just increased the size of your business on the Internet with a link back to your business Website.

  Worth reading: “Bar Rescue: and food industry expert Jon Taffer’s interview on his mission to help fix struggling bars and small business owners get    back on their feet.

Note: Some good overall advice for all small business owners whether you’re in food or not!

Check it out! 

Ok, so how many of you actually believed this story? Come on! It’s on the Internet so it has to be true. Right?

This story first appeared in 1999 and has since been widely spread across the Internet. If you want to read more about this fabulous farce check it out on snopes.com

For those of you a bit less gullable than I (I believed it at first), there are things you can do to your business Website that can help people believe you are the real deal, or more importantly, they should trust you enough to contact you?

Here are five things you can do to add instant credibility to your company Website.

1. Put a testimonial on the home page of your site. A testimonial with an actual First and Last name associated with it is even better.
2. Credibility icons. Do you have “current” certifications hanging on the wall in your office or lobby? Put those symbols on your home page.
3. Change the date at the bottom of your Website from 2002 to 2011 (We have a piece of code that we put on the Websites we develop that does it automatically). Believe or not people actually will evaluate your company site based on that date.
4. Update your event calendar. LOL, I’ve seen sites just this month with “coming soon” events in March 2005.
5. Coupons with current expiration dates. Coupons themselves are great credibility icons. Coupons say you’re established enough to offer a good deal!

So while you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet (poor Od), do what you can to make your Website credible to potential customers.

The more traffic your Website gets, the better it will do in the search result areas.

A relatively inexpensive way to get traffic to your Website is to just pay for it.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO be using Facebook as a social tool to do this. I rarely, if ever, use Facebook, but what I’m am doing is running an ad in Facebook and getting tons of traffic to my Website.

It works exactly like Pay-Per-Click in Google, with one very cool difference. I can target an age range of who sees my ad. Right now I have it set up so my ad only shows up in a 25 mile radius around a zip code. But, it also only shows up if you are between the ages of 37 to 65. (Sorry young entrepreneurs but I get too much irrelevant use of my ad if I lower the age bracket)

Anyway, what’s really amazing is that I pay $6 a day for my ad to show up on the right side of the screen, and in the 3 months that I’ve been running the ad, its shown up 1,300,000 times (yes that’s one million three hundred thousand times). It’s been clicked 450 times.

Oh, and yes it has been beneficial for me. – - – Right now I’m getting about 5 leads a week since I started running my ad.

One thing people tell me all the time is that they love the educational nature of my newsletters but then they ask, do you do this stuff? Like Facebook ads? The answer is… Of course!. It’s not that hard to set up Facebook advertising. The biggest decision you would have to make is your daily budget. Again, I’m doing $6 a day for my business, you can do more or less depending on how much traffic you want to your Web site.

Please feel free to call me or email if have any questions about the processes mentioned above or if you would like us to set it up for you. (913) 908-5642

Chris Nastav
913-908-5642
KC Web Specialists, LLC.
Experts in how business gets done on the Internet.
http://www.kcwebspecialists.com

In this workshop, you’ll learn everything you need to know about public relations and how it can grow your business. I’m a 15+ year veteran with lots of knowledge to share and this is a rare opportunity to learn from someone like myself. You’ll walk out armed with all the tools you need to start/launch a PR campaign on your own, or with a professional.

See you there!

Jennifer Fortney
Cascade Communications - PR and Marketing Communications

Follow ME!  Twitter and Facebook

Heeding President Obama’s call to ‘Startup America,’ the nation’s greatest entrepreneurial minds will gather in New Orleans for the 3rd annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW), March 19-25, 2011. The event, unveiled today, will serve as a manifestation of a movement that is sweeping the globe.

Driven by the entrepreneurial momentum that has fueled the city’s rebirth, NOEW, an initiative of The Idea Village, will feature a unique program of world-class activities including over 45 business workshops, investment pitches, networking events, keynote speeches and interactive discussion sessions. This high-impact week of service, networking and collaboration redefines New Orleans as a laboratory of innovation and a model for national best practices by connecting students, entrepreneurs and thought leaders.

“I am thrilled about the potential of the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week.  The New Orleans community has come together to sustain a movement to support and grow entrepreneurial talent,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Honorary Chair of NOEW 2011.  “NOEW illustrates that New Orleans is a model city for innovation and entrepreneurship. With smart investments in innovation and partnerships like the one we have with The Idea Village, we can set the course for growth and renewal in America.”

Joining The Idea Village as Premier Partners for NOEW are Penny & Jim Coulter, Downtown Development District of New Orleans, Economic Development Administration, Goldman Sachs, Google, Greater New Orleans Foundation, HP, Jones Walker, Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, Louisiana Recovery Authority, Kevin Clifford Family, NakedPizza, and Tulane University.

“NOEW is a physical manifestation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that has evolved over the last 10 years in New Orleans,” said Tim Williamson, co-founder and CEO of The Idea Village. “During this week, New Orleans will engage a global community of change makers to provide direct resources to the local entrepreneurial community and in doing so position New Orleans at the forefront of what is becoming a national movement.”

The idea behind NOEW was hatched in 2006 when ambitious MBA students seized the opportunity to spend their spring break in New Orleans working with early-stage, high-growth entrepreneurs. In 2009, led by investment from the Economic Development Administration, The Idea Village decided to scale the impact for the community by engaging national and local corporations, universities, investors, and individuals to spend a week in New Orleans providing direct support to local entrepreneurs surrounded by the City’s unique cultural assets in food, music and vanguard entrepreneur leaders. NOEW 2010 brought over 150 of the nation’s top MBA students and corporate volunteers together with 329 local entrepreneurs to provide over 9,121 hours of direct service to entrepreneurs at 37 events throughout downtown New Orleans.

“What initially started as a philanthropic partnership in the wake of Katrina has evolved into a more strategic initiative for the company,” says Tara Canobbio of Google’s Talent and Outreach Programs, K-12. “We have found it invaluable to be surrounded by so many driven people that share the same passion for entrepreneurship and New Orleans and it’s amazing to see the tangible impact that energy is having on the city.”

“The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative is honored to partner with Mayor Landrieu and The Idea Village to unlock the growth and job-creation potential of New Orleans’ small business owners.  We are pleased to partner with NOEW to provide local entrepreneurs access business skills, capital, mentors and networks,” said Dina Habib Powell, President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

Google and Goldman Sachs, along with other global corporations such as Cisco will join a network of professional service providers to host public educational sessions for the local entrepreneurial community on an array of topics critical to start ups and entrepreneurs including, alternative and traditional financing, communications and social media strategy, franchising, and legal issues. There are 1,000 slots available to local entrepreneurs on a first come – first serve basis. For more information on all the events, please visit http://www.noew.org.

“It is inspiring to interact with the kind of talent that The Idea Village assembles together for NOEW. Not only are Cisco employees able to support local entrepreneurs, but they walk away having learned something too,” said Luke Stewart of Cisco.

NOEW 2011 will feature MBA IDEAcorps teams from Berkeley, Cornell, University of Chicago Booth, Stanford, Northwestern Kellogg, Tulane and Loyola (New Orleans). Each student team will work closely with entrepreneurs Bideo, The Durationator Company, NOLA Brewing Company, Rare Cuts, Rebirth Financial, Spa Workshop and SensPac, from The Idea Village’s 2011 Entrepreneur Challenge (IVEC) class, to provide strategic consulting on a catalytic business challenge.

Additionally, NOEW 2011 offers a world-class investment pitch opportunity called IDEApitch led by Jim Coulter, founding partner of TPG Capital. IDEApitch will offer 5 local entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their ventures to leading investors from TPG, Bain Venture Capital, Redpoint, Prism, IBM Ventures, and American Funds

“This is a special and important moment for the city of New Orleans,” said Jim Coulter, “The Coulter Challenge IDEApitch specifically identifies five of Louisiana’s most scalable ventures and gives them the opportunity to pitch their plans to some of the world’s leading growth capital firms.”

2011 IDEApitch entrepreneurs include Federated Sample, Naked Pizza, Spa Workshop, Mini Vax and NOvate Medical Technologies, LLC.

Additionally, NOEW will feature a $50,000 ‘Water Challenge’ to promote innovative water management solutions through entrepreneurship. Interested entrepreneurs can through midnight CST on February, 21, 2011 at http://www.ideavillage.org/waterchallenge.

NOEW 2011 will offer interactive roundtable discussions on seeding and growing entrepreneur ecosystems led by national luminaries such as Jim Coulter, Senator Mary Landrieu D-La, James Carville, Mary Matalin, Amy Cosper, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, and leading business entities such as McKinsey & Company, Bain Venture Capital and IBM.

Featured Speakers and Panelists for NOEW 2011:

* Jim Coulter, Founding Partner, TPG Capital
* John Turner, President , Whitney Bank
* Dr. Patti Greene, President’s Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College
* Rick Aubry, Founder, New Foundry Ventures/Associate Provost, Tulane University
* Kris Licht and Eric Harmon, Partners, McKinsey & Co.
* Amy Cosper, Editor in Chief, Entrepreneur Magazine
* Jeff Schwartz, Managing Director, Bain Capital
* Kevin Clifford, President and CEO, American Funds
* Wendy Lung, Partner, IBM Venture Capital
* Jeff Brody, Founding Partner, Redpoint Ventures
* Jim Counihan, Partner, Prism Venture Works
* Gene Zelazny, Director of Visual Communications, McKinsey & Co.
* Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business
* Chris Gergen , Executive Director, Bull City Forward, Life Entrepreneurs
* Jessica Jackley, Founder, Kiva and Profounder
* Robbie Vitrano, Naked Pizza
* David Waggonner, FAIA, Waggoner & Ball Architects
* Mark Davis, Director, Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy

For more information, including a full schedule of events, please visit http://www.NOEW.org.
For a full list of NOEW 2011 sponsors, please visit http://noew.org/about_us/sponsors.

About the Idea Village
The Idea Village was founded in 2000 as an independent 501(c) (3) non-profit organization with a mission to identify, support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans by providing business resources to high-impact ventures. To date, The Idea Village has supported over 590 local entrepreneurs by engaging 890 professionals and allocating over 56,000 consulting hours and $2.5 million in capital. This portfolio generates over $87 million in annual revenue and has created 1,000 jobs for the community.

Chris Nastav
913-908-5642
KC Web Specialists, LLC.
Experts in how business gets done on the Internet.
http://www.kcwebspecialists.com

Yeah, I’m now published. LOL!. Ok, so it’s just a local business magazine. At least it’s a start. Check out my recent article in in the January online issue of KC Small Business.

Chris Nastav

• Connecting not installing:  I eluded to this earlier.  Cloud services can be consumed on demand.  Applications like CRM systems can be switched on for users as required, so no lengthy wait for your IT guy to come and install the software (after they spend the obligatory 30 mins looking for the CD of course!).  Require additional storage space?  No probs; just upgrade your Cloud service – no requirement to order new hardware, wait for it to be delivered, to turn off the server for an hour whilst it’s installed…you get the picture.
• Appreciate, don’t depreciate:  When a small business purchases technology infrastructure but fails to properly maintain it, as often happens, it can quickly go downhill from a performance and reliability perspective.  Things start slowing down and staff start moaning.  In fact, within only a few years, it can often be slow, outdated and worthless.  In contrast Cloud services are constantly improving, becoming faster and including more features.  Effectively you’re paying for a service which will continue to appreciate in value to you over time.  What you thought was fast and efficient now will almost certainly be improved this time next year.
• Jack be nimble, Jack be quick:  Who the heck is Jack?  Well let’s say he’s your star sales guy and he’s been pestering you for a new notebook computer.  One morning you wander in and slap a shiny new one on his desk (you are such a nice boss after all!) but there he remains all day copying emails, documents and programs from his old computer to the new.  Jack doesn’t make any sales on this day.  If Jack’s emails, documents and applications were Cloud based he’d virtually be able to head out to his first appointment, switch on the new notebook and access everything he needs immediately – and have ample time to make his daily sales target.  Imagine you have 10 Jacks in your sales team and you give them all a new notebook on the same day…now that’s going to be a slow sales day if they’re not utilising Cloud.
• All devices lead to the cloud: Cloud services are generally functional through virtually any internet connected device.  It’s incredible how useful this can be when you’re on the road, in a meeting, at a conference or in an airport lounge and need access to data.  So rather than pulling out your notebook computer (assuming you actually have it on you) it’s just so simple and easy to jump on another computer or mobile phone and get what you want.  And I’m not just thinking about email – you could also edit documents, show a Powerpoint presentation or access data within a CRM system in an instant from many devices other than your own notebook.

The question is how do I decide what the important stuff is?  Just like any reporter, and pretty much anyone, I look for the headline or the subject line of the email.  If it doesn’t look interesting or relevant to me, it’s trashed immediately.  Same goes for your press release and media. If you’re pursuing public relations for your business, pay attention.  You can learn a lot if you just step back and think about it.  It’s time to stop drinking your own Kool-Aid.

This blog post is a great opportunity for you to start rethinking your PR strategies and campaigns.  If you’re not being successful its for one of two reasons:

1. There’s NO news – no one cares, yet you spent all this time writing a press release that no one is going to care about.

2. You’re using the much hated “Bowl of Spaghetti Theory” when it comes to PR.  You think more press releases are better and you just spam it to everyone trying to play the odds someone will pick it up, instead of focusing your efforts on those who may actually be interested.  Keep it targeted.

If you do one thing for your business this year, it’s learn about PR.  Not everyone can do it well and those who can’t should take the initiative to really understand the practice to be successful.

Bad Press Releases: 20 Worst Headlines Ever
The PRCoach.com

This just in. The headline is the most important part of your press release. Apparently, many have forgotten that rule. Today, we’re sharing 20 of the worst press release headlines we’ve seen recently.  It’s all part of our quest for better, more effective news releases.

But first, a couple of thoughts about headlines. A great headline gets read by a newsroom editor, reporter, radio news director or TV assignment editor. If your headline is bad, it’s in the trash instantly! Literally or electronically.

Read more…

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2011, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated. This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Oh the heck with it. LOL! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! LOL!

It has been a pleasure working with, socializing, and communicating with all of you this last year and I look forward to more of the same in 2011.

Chris Nastav

While companies, especially small businesses, may be getting BIG time exposure, are customers really becoming loyal or are they just shopping for the best deal?  More over, if your company participates in a “Daily Deal”, how you follow up with your marketing, and audience, afterwards can determine whether that one-time brand awarness lasts for a day or longer.

Recently I was introduced to a new kind of online marketing resource for small businesses – Locallife.com – and it’s coming to a town near you soon.  The site, itself, is geared towards consumers who are encouraged to search, shop and save locally.  Consumers can easily make it their home page, use it as their primary resource on all things local, print off, or receive by text,  coupons from local businesses.  The idea – to build ongoing communications  and loyalty, and encourage people to shop locally whether you live in a city neighborhood or suburb.  Imagine one place where you can make dinner reservations, buy tickets to a show and hire a babysitter.  That’s just one of many examples Phil Hollrah of Locallife Chicago offered.

For small businesses it’s a one-stop-shop for online marketing offering a suite of unique tools from advertising and database to promotion creation and message delivery through SMS/mobile text.  You don’t have to wait for a customer services or advertising representative to set up your online marketing/advertising with Locallife.com.  In fact, a boutique could decide to have a major sale tomorrow.  They can log in, create the promotion and send it out to their customers by text in a matter of minutes!

“The purpose of Locallife is two-fold. One, provide businesses with the presence they need in today’s online world and equip them with affordable, easy to use outbound marketing tools to help them grow and insulate their customer base,” said Steve Lorenc, President of Locallife Chicago.  “Two, to provide consumers with a one-stop resource to discover and find businesses in their local area that are relevant to them, while providing access to deals and savings.”

Locallife’s complete and affordable marketing packages including premium directory listings, full-service custom web design, text and email marketing, database marketing, coupon and special offer authoring, social media marketing and networking events with other local businesses.  And if you’re in the market to buy into a business, Locallife is a franchise, originally out of the U.K., with opportunities in markets across the U.S.

I, personally, have never had a problem because I worked in the media.  I know what it’s like to get 100 phone calls in a day with someone pitching their story – most of them terrible and easy to say goodbye to. Respect is the number one factor and small businesses can learn something from this article.

Of course, it would be ideal if media contacted us directly, and sometimes they do, but the reality is that they just don’t have the time to look at everything and that’s when follow up is key.

For many small businesses, you are out there trying to conduct PR on your own because you know it can help grow your business and then you’ll consider outsourcing it to a professional.  If you read this blog regularly, you know the key components to forming your story, a REAL story.  In PR it’s all about your story and it better be good, but while you’re busy writing your press release and making a media list, take these into account.  I guarantee it will help you be more successful in achieving positive press for your business.

My suggestions for better media relations:

1. Always be smile when pitching media.  It comes through the phone!

2. Ask if they have a brief minute before going into your pitch

3. Keep your pitch SHORT.  If you can’t get it in 30 seconds, then rewrite it until you can. You want to interest them to ask for an email and actually be on the look out

4. Of course, know your target editors and publications and craft your story to them

5. Read through the publication online.  Look for other articles by that editor to get a feel for what they’re looking for

6. Sizzling Subject Line: This is the first time most media will see your info, so make it sizzle (truthful) enough to entice them to open the email

7. Consider media a good friend.  They aren’t, after all, terrible people, just busy.  I can’t tell you how my friendly-I’ve-know-you-forever-attitude has ended up in conversations with media that steer away from my client’s pitch.  In the end, they’ve remembered me and often turns their interest towards the story.  Plus, they trust me as a good source for news and information.

What are your DIY PR success stories with media?

Read more…

Carr, who famously quit Twitter and Facebook in August, criticized networks like Twitter for cluttering the Web with inane chatter and giving users false hope in becoming a marketing sensation. “Everyone wants to create their own personal brand,” he said. “The fact is, you’re not going to be famous just because you like the Smurfs, unless you’ve created the Smurfs.”

Vaynerchuk disagrees: “I’m a businessman. I’ve made money my whole life. I look at this strictly as business, and this definitely does allow people to market whatever they want to market, in a very different way than we’ve ever seen before. The fact that you can build things with sweat equity and not put in dollars does change the playing field. It just does.”

Watch the two new media leaders spar on how to properly build a brand and develop an online following in this week’s “Social Media is Overrated” debate in its entirety.

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