Should your blog theme and website design match? From a branding perspective the obvious answer is Yes. But that may not always be the best answer. I think it really depends on the purpose for your blog.

I’d say that any blog that exists on the same domain name as your website should have the same design theme. It acts as an extension of your website. But a blog that is on a separate domain name may be something else entirely different. It may or may not have the same design theme depending on its purpose. But when?

Ultimately, only you can answer that question, but here are a few helpful tips that might help you decide:

• If the primary purpose is to promote your website then you can make the design the same as your website’s
• If the content is similar in nature then give them a similar design
• If it is the only blog you have and its purpose is to drive traffic to your website
• If the brand is important enough that you want your blog visitors and your site visitors to see the connection
• If the blog is product-based and you want to ensure that the product is connected with your company name

There may be other reasons to give your blog the same design as your website, but these are the most basic reasons that I can think of. Think long and hard before you start a blog with a different theme than your website. Blue Chip Marketing Tips is its own brand, a separate brand, from Melberg Marketing even though I use this blog to promote the latter. The content is similar to the website and many of my readers know the two are connected, though it isn’t absolutely essential that readers know this. I’m using BCM as a branding tool on its own. That’s an editorial decision and it’s worked well for me. Will it work for you?

When you’re ready to build your website you’ll need to pick a good domain name. There are several ways to do this:

• You can pick a keyword-based domain name
• Go for the branding effect - ie. Small Business Mavericks
• Combine the two approaches and brand a keyword-based domain name

Obviously, the best approach is No. 3, but you can be successful with the other two as well. Choose whether having your keyword in your domain name is important or not. Keep in mind that if you opt for the branding effect over keyword-based then you might have some initial struggles in seeing your website ranked, but it is possible to do it with the branded site name. Still, you shouldn’t do either until you do your keyword research.

The reason you want to do your keyword research first is to outline the possibilities. You want to see what keywords are the most popular and most profitable from a search point of view. After you’ve done and looked at your competition then you can start thinking about your name - but you’ll also want to define your business little bit first. What is your niche? Do you have a niche within a niche? Are you targeting a specific demographic? Know as much about your business as you can before you start.

Next, you’ll want to make a list of potential domain names. After you’ve come up with names, search whois to find out if they are taken. If not, snatch up the one you want as quickly as possible because some people watch to see what is being searched for then buy up the ones with the most potential. You could stand to lose your domain name if it’s sales-worthy.

If any of this seems confusing or you need a little help along the way, just contact Melberg Marketing for the right domain name guidance.

Marketing Charts reports that most SMBs will maintain or increase their ad spending this year, and many will increase their online ad spending.

Among the most interesting statistics reported in the new study are:

• 47% of SMBs expect to maintain their spending on ads in the next 12 months while 34% expect to increase it
• 31% will make the decision based on ad performance and ROI
• 40% of SMBs plan to add customer reviews to their own websites
• 30% will add links or place ads on social sites or blogs
• 26% will incorporate video on their websites

These are encouraging statistics. If 81% of small businesses plan to maintain or increase their ad spending then it means the economy is not having as big an impact on business as we are being told. A clear 56% of small businesses will make advertising decisions based what is happening internally within their companies. At least 40% of small businesses will do some kind of Internet marketing this year.

I only see these numbers going up in the near future. If that happens then the necessity of doing business online will only increase, which will lead to more online advertising. The future of business is on the Web.

Blame it on Google. They went Chrome.

Yes, Google is introducing its own browser, but that’s not the subject of this blog post. Instead, I’d like to discuss how they are marketing it - through an online comic book. How innovative!

Yes, this is a great concept and it’s the kind of online marketing that companies need to be thinking about doing these days. It’s creative, it’s informative, it creates a buzz. My guess is that Google’s online comic book marketing their new browser, aptly titled “Chrome”, will get a lot of inbound links. Not just because it’s Google, but because it’s good marketing. The comic book is well laid out, well thought out, provides lots of useful information, and breaks down technical jargon into everyday language. If your company isn’t doing this kind of marketing online then you need to study Google’s playbook.

You run a small business and it’s thriving. Your offline division is cranking out the steam and your online business is picking it up as well. But you have little time for your family. What do you do?

Well, first, you have to keep some balance in your life. And I mean real balance. You’re not just managing a business. You’re managing a life. So let’s break it down.

As far as time management goes, there are two times that you need to manage: Now and Future. That’s not what you though I was going to say, is it? But it’s true. You have commitments today, right now, but you also have deadlines that may be a week away, two weeks away, or a month away. And you know that you’ll get more business that will cut into the time that you have to manage those. So you need to organize your time management tasks into Now and Future.

In areas of life and business, you have your family, you have your offline business, your online business, your community, friends, your church, other civic activities, and you may even have political commitments. Whatever the case, you need to break it down and organize your channels. All of them have Now and Future aspects, don’t they?

Consider your offline business and online business separate entities because they do have different needs and concerns. They require different approaches.

When you organize your time, figure out what needs to get done right now. Assign a priority to each task. Immediate, Important, Somewhat Important, and If I Can Get To It works. You may create your own categories, but I highly recommend this.

What you do is you create a list. In your list, code your tasks with your priority rating for that task. Also, try to imagine how long that task will take you - 5 mins., 2 hours, etc. Next, note which box, or channel, it fits into. Is it related to your offline business, online business, charity work, family? Make sure you note this.

You can create your list of tasks the first thing in the morning, but I’d recommend doing it the night before, either just before you go to bed or just before you leave the office. It should be the last thing you do for the day. That way, when you start the next day, the first thing you do is consult your list and see what needs to get done. Try to finish one important task in each channel category of your life each day. In other words, do the most important and immediate tasks first for each category, but if your family life only has “maintenance” items for that day (ie no birthdays, weddings, promises to keep, etc.) then at least do that. Do one thing in each channel every day.

It’s important to do one thing from each life channel every day because if you make that phone call to your sister then it’s a morale booster for you and for her. You both benefit and you will be more productive in the long run.

By prioritizing each task in your life this way and ensuring that you spend a little time each day in every channel where you have commitments, you will be more fulfilled, more productive, and much happier.

It is customary online when engaging in social media to upload a photo or image that accompanies your conversational pieces. These images are called avatars.

Forums use them. Blogs use them. Social networking sites use them. Social bookmarking sites use them. Microblogging sites use them. Just about everywhere you go you will encounter an avatar. Some people simply use a photo while others use a cartoon character or animated .gif. Some people use a cropped company logo or the entire logo itself. Does it really matter?

I think your avatar makes a big difference. You are communicating something very important about yourself and your business with your avatar. For instance, if your avatar is a picture of Cindarella, wouldn’t that say something, as opposed to a picture of Darth Vader? For some businesses, Darth Vader may be the appropriate avatar. But is it appropriate for you?

It will behoove you to think deeply about your avatar. It doesn’t necessarily need to be your own photo, although it can be. A photo says “I’m accessible.” It’s personal. But you also give up a little bit of a privacy if you use your own photo. That’s a decision you’ll have to weigh heavily.

On the other hand, a company logo says “I’m all business.” It can come off as off-putting if you manage personal relationships through your networking accounts. Then again, you are marketing your business and that’s the point, right?

What about cartoon characters or famous celebrities? I’ve seen people use images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. I’ve seen other celebrities too - James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Alf. What image do you conjure when you think of those celebrities? Is that the image you want people to think about when they see your avatar? Remember, whatever they think about your avatar is what they’ll think about you.

Your avatar is your brand. Just as you would put careful thought into your company logo and website header, you need to think about your avatar and what you want it to communicate to your prospects, business partners, and customers online.

If this survey is correct then your small business could be in jeopardy.

In addition, PayPoint found that among 1000 consumers, just 3 percent of online shoppers are likely to trust a small online business with their money, preferring to shop with larger online brands. A further 81 percent say they have doubt about the security credentials of small, unknown companies.

In order to be taken seriously by your prospect customers, you’ve got to convince them that they can trust you. How do you do that? One way is to make it appear as if you are larger than you are. It is difficult to succeed online if you look like a small business.

Keep in mind that this is true of online-only businesses. If you are a local business with an internet presence and you are targeting local consumers to drive them to your brick-and-mortar store then your strategy will be slightly different. But if you are an online-only business and you are targeting consumers globally, it makes sense to spend time branding your company and appearing larger. How do you do that?

Here are some ways you can make yourself look bigger than you are:

• Make your URL a keyword-targeted brand
• Have a customer service number where people can call you and answer the phone in a professional manner using your business name and personal name with a “How may I help you” greeting
• Include an online chat feature
• Go to great pains to ensure your customers that you provide security for their private information

People like doing business with people so keep it personal. But they want the security of doing business with a large company so be professional. There is still some skepticism about doing business online. Alleviate people’s fears as much as possible.

I think there is a bit of confusion among new Internet marketers about what constitutes a good keyword phrase. Many new marketers will perform their keyword research then use every phrase that is offered as related by whatever tool they are using. It doesn’t matter which tool you use for your research - they will all return keyword phrases that make no logical sense. It’s your job to turn those phrases into something meaningful.

Here’s an example of what I mean. This marketer is obviously targeting the phrase “online advertising internet marketing online businesses” as it is repeated verbatim several times throughout the blog post. Can you tell me what that phrase means?

If your keyword research tool returns something of this nature as a suggestion for related keywords, take that phrase and massage it into something that makes sense. Don’t just use it because your keyword research tool suggested it.

As a general rule, don’t use any keyword phrase that repeats a word. The redundant use of “online” in this phrase is useless. The search engines will likely view it as spam and your pages won’t rank well. Secondly, choose one synonymous phrase and stick with it. “Internet marketing” and “online advertising” mean almost the same thing. Not exactly, but they are close enough that you should focus on one and let the other drop. If both phrases are important to you then write one blog post or web page that focuses on one of the phrases and another that focuses on the other. Don’t combine them. Your watering down your phrases when you do that.

Thirdly, do a little more digging on the research. Do that many people really search for “online advertising internet marketing online businesses”? I really doubt that people are searching for that exact phrase. If they are then they probably aren’t finding a lot of information because savvy marketers use phrases that actually make sense. Remember, you are writing for humans and if humans can’t make sense of your content then they aren’t going to buy what you are selling so give extra thought to how you use your keyword phrases.

When 73% of Internet users first start their research online, it pays to spend some time ranking well in the search engines. If you don’t then you don’t exist.

That’s why I’ve put together a new workshop to address the needs of small business owners who are just now trying to take their business online. The title of the workshop is The 7 Things You Can Do to Make Google Fall in Love with Your Website. In addition that workshop, I’ve a great bonus: How to Turn Your Business Blog into a Search Engine Magnet.

The beginning of your Internet marketing should be your own website. In my workshop I’ll tell you how to go about optimizing your website so that it can be found by people searching for your products online. The topics I’ll cover in depth in this workshop are:

• Search Engine Optimization – what is it?
• Why Search Engine Optimization is critical to your online success
• The 7 things you can do to make Google fall in love with your website
• Blogging – what it is and why you should care
• How to launch your own business blog – the right way
• How to use your business blog as a search engine magnet

In this workshop I’ll cover everything you need to know to make your website the best that it can be and to rank well in the search engines. The cost is a measly $50 and you can register online by going to www.SocialWebTraining.com. Oh, and just in case you’re wondering what date it will be, look for us on September 16, 2008 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. See you there!

Michael Martine says generalists are better than specialists, and makes a convincing case. Has this ever happened to you?

Take SEO (search engine optimization) and web design, for example. You hire an SEO specialist after you hired a web designer who you thought knew everything about web design. In your mind, you lumped in a bunch of stuff in with “web design” that your web designer was clueless about.

After all, a web design specialist does not study SEO. He or she studies web design, and that’s it. You later find out you have zero SEO, and you’re ticked off. Now you hire yet another specialist who is going to do all kinds of changes to your site and other things you don’t understand. if this stuff had been done as part of the original design, you would have saved thousands of dollars.

Of course, he’s making a sales case for himself, but his point is right on. There are many times when it is good to hire a specialist and that’s exactly what you need. But if you are just starting out in business, or you are just making your first foray into Internet marketing, which is new territory for many small business owners, then what you really need is a guide, a generalist who knows how to get around in the field. There is more than one reason for this.

Michael pointed out of the reasons, which is the ignorance of specialists regarding other specialists specialties. But sometimes it’s not even ignorance. It could be differences of opinion.

You’ll run into some specialists who do things one way and another specialist who does things another way. Neither way is wrong, they’re just different, but they don’t go well together. You need someone who can reconcile the differences, someone who can analyze your situation and determine which direction is the best way to go - and sometimes that direction is between the paths of the two specialists.

What it all boils down to is directorship. Who’s going to run the program? Can you? Do you know enough about the different specialties of online marketing to direct the show and not end up lost? Most small business owners can’t do that. That’s why they need someone who can communicate across specialties to steer their business in the right direction. A director can tell the web designer not to include certain code, or to place it in an external file when it needs to be, based on the SEOs recommendation. Then she can convince the SEO not to be so adamant about the use of image files like Flash because in small doses and appropriate optimization techniques those elements can be implemented successfully. Your director doesn’t have to do the work; she just has to know how it should be done so that she can direct those who will do it. And if that’s the kind of expertise you need to steer your business in the right direction as you make the transition online, well then I’m your girl. And the best part is, I’m knowledgeable of online marketing and traditional marketing so I can help you integrate the two. Ready?