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Rank: Advanced Member
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Mornin all, here's the quandry for today:
Finally happy with the website (superficially at least): networking like a demon and it's starting to pay off, but I don't think my business will flourish just working locally.
How else to get my business noticed on a typically 'tight' budget. Anyone have any recommendations or methods that have worked for them?
Thanks
Robert
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Hi Robert, You're already on the right track with your involvement in the forums here, and with the networking. If you want to grow your business outside your current location, then you need to increase your online presence. One of the main ways to do this is to register yourself with as many social and business networking sites as you can, including all the obvious ones like Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, MySpace, Ecademy etc. I was recently given a list of directories that you might also find useful. All of them are free to register, and I have noticed my profiles starting to crop up more and more in the search engines as a result of that. I have listed the main ones below. www.ukdirectorylist.co.uk www.freeexchange.co.uk www.b2bindex.co.uk www.brownbook.net www.approvedindex.co.ukwww.birmingham.gov.uk www.freeindex.co.uk www.cityvisitor.comwww.wecando.biz www.searchsight.comAnother very useful one to bear in mind is 4Networking. Their web site http://www.4networking.biz/ is free to register with, and the forums are very active, so, even if you can't make the meetings, you can, potentially, pick up clients from all around the country, as I have done extensively over the last 12 months. All of the above will provide links to your web site, which should help with your SEO. Where ever you are registered, always a good idea to set yourself up as an expert in your field as well, as I have done on here. People see the level of advice you give (either in forums or features on the home page) and will be more inclined to deal with you. It can be a lot of work, but at least it can be done on a tight budget, and I'm a firm believer that we get out what we put in, in business. It's a bit of a cliche, but I've been very lucky in business, and, coincidently, the harder I work, the luckier I get!  Another thing worth checking out is optimising your own web site, if that's an option for you. The link below is to Marc P Summers' web site, and to his SEO 'Do It Yourself' guide. At just £5.99, it's well worth checking out. I've not actually read it myself, simply because I booked Marc for a 10 minute presentation at a 4Networking meeting recently, and I learned enough in that 10 minute talk to enable me to get my own web site to page 1 on Google, with no other help whatsoever. Could be worth checking out: http://www.monkeydesignhouse.com/how-to-get-more-visitors-to-your-website.htmlHope that helps a little. Alan
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Wow, thanks for all that lot Alan!
I've had the misfortune to wade through Googles guide to optimisation and where I've applied it it seems to work. It's just one of those time-consuming tasks that seems to drop down the to-do list.
I certainly agree with your comment about being 'an expert', I've also heard it described as 'create a celebrity for yourself'. I'm fortunate my skill-set is fairly rare and I know that's one thing I should be able to use to my advantage.
I'll take a look at those links, there's certainly nothing to lose from them.
Thanks again
Robert
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Another trick is to get your Link/business in the signature on any forums you may be on :) I have to say that I've not been on Facebook long, but it's a great way to find people that you can follow, and make them aware of your products :)
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Thanks for the mention Alan. As the man says, ours is a free site for not only getting yourself seen, but getting sales leads and getting introduced to valuable new contacts with a view to getting business. Networking is not an aim in itself, but a means to an end remember. If you need help on getting started on our site try either our Top 10 Tips guide or post here and I'll help you how I can. IH
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robert_hempsall_information_designer wrote:Wow, thanks for all that lot Alan!
I've had the misfortune to wade through Googles guide to optimisation and where I've applied it it seems to work. It's just one of those time-consuming tasks that seems to drop down the to-do list.
I certainly agree with your comment about being 'an expert', I've also heard it described as 'create a celebrity for yourself'. I'm fortunate my skill-set is fairly rare and I know that's one thing I should be able to use to my advantage.
I'll take a look at those links, there's certainly nothing to lose from them.
Thanks again
Robert No problem. You're right, time can be an issue, which is why I like Marc's approach. I have spent no more than 3 hours total on the SEO for my site. The main phrase I wanted was 'Accountants Telford'. I've now got my site to number 6 on Google AND I also appear in 2 other places on Page 1 (Think I'm the only firm that can say that). For a laugh (and because it's a great ice breaker) I optimised the site to be number 1 on Google for 'sh*t hot accountants'. Wasn't difficult, and it only took me about 5 minutes, as it is, understandably, a less common phrase. It is, however, the most popular phrase used to find my site, these days, so simply by having a drop in line like; "If you can't remember our web site, just Google sh*t hot accountants, and, as in most areas of business, you'll find we're number one" it has driven a whole load of extra traffic to my site, many, admittedly, just out of curiosity. You're right about the celebrity thing. Something I believe Johnny Apples called 'celebritisation' (right before he disappeared of the business scene!!!) It's something I have used to my advantage very successfully, especially as most accountants don't feel comfortable in that sort of role, so my competition is somewhat limited. It's all about working out what makes you different and then letting as many people as possible know about it. I should perhaps wave the EN banner a bit here, as I have to say, many of the techniques I use to promote my business online I have picked up either from this site or from Emma's book, including Google Adwords, Twitter, findatvexpert.com and many others. My blog is now very popular and widely visited, but, in fact, I only created it after reading about them in Spare Room Start Up. Alan
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Alan has raised some great points Robert and taking Alan's points on board together with even some basic SEO would potentially boost your online presence in a short space of time. I would be happy to provide some free SEO for your site to work in conjunction with directory listings, analytics, online and offline networking. The reason I am prepared to offer this for free....quite simply I love SEO and seeing results and my site has benefited immensly from this area. I would happily undertake the task and report to you what had been done so that you could continue the journey further down the line. Let me know what you think. Charlie Virtual Secretary Solutionsvirtual assistance that works WITH your businessvirtual assistance, online marketing, logo design & business branding, web design & SEO and event planning 
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This is great stuff, thanks everyone, it will help me too. I am struggling with my page rank.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Alan Young wrote:You're right about the celebrity thing. Something I believe Johnny Apples called 'celebritisation' (right before he disappeared of the business scene!!!) Ah, Johnny Apples, that's a blast from the past. I've recently seen his 'workers' out and about but not sure what happened to him. I'll ask one of them when I see them. I think I have the opposite quandary to you: there aren't many people that do what I do so I need to make the whole concept of it noticed, rather than stand out in the crowd, but the same approach applies. I love your suggestion about using an 'alternate search term'. My surname gets spelt wrong so often it's untrue, so there's some definite mileage in that. I'll also take a look at Marc's site etc. Cheers Robert
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I am new to this forum and all the above has just answered my queries on website ranking. I was only thinking last night which websites to look into for linking mine too and Alan has just advised perfectly. thank you!!
all the best
Kate
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Rank: Advanced Member
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TimeBoutique wrote:I am new to this forum and all the above has just answered my queries on website ranking. I was only thinking last night which websites to look into for linking mine too and Alan has just advised perfectly. thank you!!
all the best
Kate Hi Kate, and welcome to the forums. Glad to be of assistance. No doubt you'll find plenty of people in here who will be happy to help with any questions you may have. Enjoy. Alan
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Hi there, I am new to the forum in that I haven't been active since registering.
This information comes at exactly the right time to enable me to raise my profile. I'll be looking at those links shortly.
Thanks to you all for this information.
Have fun!
Judith
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Like Kate and Judith I am new to forum. I started my business eSift at the end of last year, I have found SEO and the Google rankings to be the biggest challenge however his seems to have answered all my questions so thank you Alan it really is much appreciated.
Kind Regards
Claire
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