Interviewed by Local Voice

This week I was interviewed by Local Voice about what’s important for small businesses. Local Voice, which is sponsored by Local Supplies, showcases local small business owners and gives them a chance to tell a bit of their story while sharing advice.  I hope there’s some tidbit of inspiration or advice in my interview that helps you out.

Interview with Sarah Worsham, Internet Marketer

Internet Marketing, Strategy & Technology Links – August 7, 2009

• How to Build Compelling Content By Leaving Readers Wanting More (ProBlogger)
• Facebook Ain’t Cool With the Kids No More (TechCrunch)
• Search Ads WordPress Plugin (Daily Blog Tips)
• Twitter, Facebook, and LiveJournal Down at the Same Time! (Update) (ReadWriteWeb)
• Bloggers, Companies Must Assume Responsibility For Their Audiences (PR2.0)
• Facebook Experiencing Serious Downtime Issues (All Facebook)
• Twitter Zombies: 24% of Tweets Created by Bots (Mashable)
• Look Out, Google: Bing’s New Jingle Could Give It A Real Edge (Silicon Alley Insider)
• Twitter Attacked! (Silicon Alley Insider)
• Comcast Broadband Growth Stinks In Q2, Better Now (Silicon Alley Insider)

We post links to stories about how to use the web effectively throughout the day on Twitter, Google Reader Shared or Delicious.  Also, if you have a post or link you think is worth sharing, please let us know!

Liked this post? Consider subscribing to our RSS feed or our free email updates or following us on Twitter.

Technorati tags: internet strategy, internet marketing, technology, marketing, business, strategy

You Get To Choose Your Competitors…

You may not believe it but it’s true.  You get to choose your competitors.  How?  By narrowly defining what business and market you’re in.  You do this by determining what it is that you do that’s better than anyone else (your core competence) and what benefits you bring to customers.  From these two things you can determine your market in such a way that you’re the best at it (ideally). – Sarah Worsham – You Get to Choose Your Competitors… – Insights Group

Blogging over at Insights Group today about how to choose your competitors, similar to the post here from yesterday, but I give an example of how it is done.  Hope to see you there!

(photo by eschipul @ Flickr CC)

Internet Marketing, Strateg & Technology Links – August 6, 2009

• SURPRISE! How to Create Compelling Content by Being Playful (ProBlogger)
• Take Feedburner feeds to the next level: A visual how-to guide (Brian Cray)
• Local online news video advertising: 6 ways to monetize content (Online Journalism Blog)
• Consumers Increase Spending Despite Lower Incomes (Marketing Charts)
• Online TV, Movie Streaming Accelerates in US (Marketing Charts)
• Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media & Web Jobs (Mashable)

Figuring Out Who You’re Actually Competing With

I run across a lot of business people who feel like they’re competing with the entire world.  They’re scared of the big companies and any little mom & pop store that shows up that might be somehow related to what they do.  You may feel similarly – like the whole world is out to get you… but are you actually competing with all these companies?

Internet Marketing, Strategy & Technology Links – August 5, 2009

• How I’m Increasing Reader Engagement on my Blog (ProBlogger)
• Ultimate A/B Testing resources and how I used them (Brian Cray)
• The US Internet Industry Leads The World, Right? Wrong (Silicon Alley Insider)
• 5 Reasons Why Twitter’s Growth Cannot Be Stopped (Mashable)
• Delicious Joins the Twitter Era (Mashable)
• 26 T-Shirts for Internet Geeks and Web Workers (Daily Blog Tips)

A Missed Opportunity to Connect with an Enthusiastic Customer = PRFAIL

Last night I was a bar/brewery for a pr/social media meetup.  I love this bar.  It has free wireless, good food, great beer and no smoking.  It’s a bit of a haul from where I live, but I still make it a point to meet people there, tell people about it, and give them as much business as I can.  I am an enthusiastic customer.

Internet Marketing, Strategy & Technology Links – August 4, 2009

• Is Your Blog Twitter Ready? (Daily Blog Tips)
• What is Organic Marketing? (Insights Group)
• Scoble, Twitter and the wisdom of the crowd! (Jim’s Marketing Blog)
• How Is The U.S. Doing Globally? (Silicon Alley Insider)
• Why Schmidt Had To Go (TechCrunch)
• 62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business (Web Worker Daily)

Who Are You, Exactly?

So many of us are so busy running our businesses that we forget exactly who we are – what our company stands for and what we provide to our customers.  This can lead to some huge business problems, such as branding and reputation problems, as well as not understanding where to spend money to reach our actual customers.  Taking a few minutes to think about who you are -  in terms of what your customer thinks, can really help you target the right audience with the correct message, saving you both time and money in the process.

Internet Marketing, Strategy & Technology Links – August 3, 2009

• Is Digg Losing Traction? (The Bivings Report)
• The Productivity Myth: Step Away From the Twitter – Get Back to Work (O’Reilly Radar)
• The Truth About Search Engine Optimization by Rebecca Lieb (Web Analytics World)
• 20 + mind-blowing social media statistics (Econsultancy)
• The Problem Of Promoting You, Your Cause, Your Business With Social Media (Social Media Explorer)
• Online lead generation still growing but becoming more competitive (Econsultancy)

What’s In It For Me?

“Our Mission is to provide valuable information… blah blah blah” Who Cares? You know what customers care about?  Themselves.  They don’t care what services you provide or how often you win awards.  They only care about what’s in it for them. – What’s In It For Me? Sarah Worsham – Insights Group

Blogging over at Insights Group today, I talk about how to talk to customers so they’ll listen.  What’s In It For Me?

(photo by Samael Trip @ Flickr CC)

Internet Marketing, Strategy & Technology Links – July 31, 2009

• Southern Comfort Dumps Cable For Hulu, Facebook (GigaOM)
• Facebook Tells Digg To Fix Their Connect Implementation (All Facebook)
• Skype As We Know It May Not Exist Much Longer, eBay Says (ReadWriteWeb)
• Why Do You Tweet? (ReadWriteWeb)
• From Corporate to Personal: A Breakdown Of The Four Types of Twitter Profiles (Web Strategy by Jeremiah)
• HOW TO: Deal With Social Networking Overload (Mashable)