Have you been struggling to get your small business out there? Working hard to market, but not really sure what you`re doing? I get a lot of emails asking for advice and though I do try to provide a lot of information on this blog and my website, sometimes you just need a little extra boost. Which is why I`m running a new workshop.

The marketing workshop will be held on Oct. 14th from 6-8:30 pm at Byerlys Community Center Ridgedale, 3081 Ridgedale Drive, Minnetonka, MN 55305. I`ll be covering all the basics to help you get started, including:

• Article marketing
• Social media marketing
• Online press releases
• Using the above for SEO

This is the perfect opportunity if you are in the area (or willing to travel a bit) to learn more about how to effectively market your small business online. The cost is just $50, affordable to all.

To register for this class, just head over to Social Web Training and sign up.

Narrowing your marketing efforts is a great way for small businesses to save some money while getting better results for the effort. A general campaign might work, but it rarely brings in the amount of clients that a properly targeted marketing campaign would.

You probably have a pretty good idea of what your market is. Whether you`re selling to teens, single moms or corporate males in their 40`s, you should know at least the basics of your target market. However, if you can narrow it down, you`ll find that you have a far more focused marketing strategy that yields better results.

Do you know everything about your target market? If not, then you will need to do a little market research to ensure that you are aiming your marketing at them the right way. For example, if you write an ad aimed at single mothers, referencing staying at home, you`ve just lost a huge part of your market, since most single mothers work.

While you can still have a wider audience, it often helps to aim your ads and split your email lists into more targeted groups so you can speak specifically to them. You`ll notice a marked improvement once you are marketing to specific groups, rather than a general audience.

If you’re thinking about building a website for your business then I commend you. It’s a big step for a lot of companies and one that will do you well in the long run. Before you do, however, think about everything you have to do before you start building.

Let’s go through the list, shall we?

1. Do some initial competitive research - It helps to landscape the playing field before you get too far into your plans. Know who’s doing what and take the first step to filling a niche.
2. Keyword research - Without keyword research you won’t get very far.
3. Find a hosting company - There are tons of hosting companies out there. Which one is right for you?
4. Learn HTML or hire a designer - Someone has to build your website. Is it you? Someone else? That decision needs to be made early on.
5. Think about your marketing plan - Yes, you should do this before you build your website because marketing online is somewhat different than marketing off line. Some marketing plans may require that your website have certain amenities. Know your options before you begin.
6. Choose a design - It can be a template or a custom design, but you’ll need to figure it out before you build the site.
7. Have a content plan - The days of building a website and writing the content as you go are over. You’d better know what the website will be about and how you will approach the topic before you get started.

After you do all of that, are you ready to start building your website. You are close, but before you go right into it, check over the details of your plan again to see if you have any holes. Make sure your holes are filled in because it cost you some money down the road.

You’ve heard all the advice and you’re still stuck with the question, “What does it mean to produce quality content?” It’s a good question.

You might think, by listening to all the SEOs out there, that quality content is content that gets you good rankings. Well, not necessarily. Sure, if you don’t rank well for your key terms then having the best content in the world won’t matter as you likely won’t be getting much traffic. But there is always PPC.

But what about that content? I’m going to try to define what good content is and let’s see if we can nail it down.

Good content is content that appeals to your target customer. In other words, it’s just what they were looking for. For instance, if you are a local shoe store then you’ll want to write content that will invite people into your store to buy shoes. Not fluff. Real, valuable content. That requires understanding the needs of your customers.

You’ll have to ask yourself all the same questions you would ask for any other marketing campaign: What demographic do we serve? How far will people drive? etc. But you’ll also need to ask whether or not you want to sell through your website. If so, then your content needs to sell. If the goal is to motivate your customer to drive to your brick and mortar store then your content needs to be geared that way. But always, always it needs to be about shoes. That’s what you customer is there for, right?

I just wanted to drop a line to remind you of two upcoming seminars for small businesses. One is free and the other costs just $50, but you will get pounds and pounds of value from both seminars. I promise!

The first seminar - the free one - will take place on September 15, 2008 at Latuff’s Pizza in Menneapolis, Minnesota. This is our monthly Biz Bloggers Meet-Up Group. It’s a free event but we will collect $4 from everyone for the pizza. The location for Latuff’s is 11333 Hwy 55 in Minneapolis. We’ll be sharing tips on how to make the most out of your business blog and networking. For more information and to RSVP go to http://blog.meetup.com/409/. We meet at 5:30 p.m.

The $50 seminar will take place the next day - September 16, 2008 - at Byerlys Community Center Ridgedale. We meet at 6 p.m. In this seminar I’ll talk about search engine optimization and how to use a blog to attract new business by targeting it toward search engines. In other words, can you really achieve high rankings with a blog? The community center is located at 13081 Ridgedale Drive in Minnetonka. For more information, go to SocialWebTraining. See you there!

Should your domain name be your brick and mortar business name? Many businesses, when they go online to build their first website and start marketing, will assume that their business name should be their domain name. But not necessarily.

Let’s say you own a lumber company named Jack’s located in Denver, Colorado. All the locals simply know it as Jack’s and when they are ready to go buy lumber they just say, “I’m heading on over to Jack’s.” Do you want your website domain name to be Jacks.com?

Chances are, that’s already taken. But you may be tempted to find other variations of the word Jack’s that fit with lumber. The obvious would be jackslumber.com. If it’s not taken then it could be the best bet for you; but what if it is taken? What then?

It’s much more important to have a domain name with your most important keyword in it. In other words, if you had a choice to have a domain name with the word “Jack” in it versus a domain name with the word “lumber” in it then you’d be better off with using “lumber.” The reason is because you want to rank for your important keyword as much as you can and as high in the rankings as you can. While the domain name is not the most important part of your web rankings calculation, the search engines do consider domain name. It’s just one of the criteria that they look at.

Therefore, when coming up with a domain name for your company, try to find one that best represents your company brand and that uses your most important keyword. It’s OK even to create a separate brand online that will serve as an extension of your off line business.

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.

There are various ways to run an Internet marketing campaign. But what if you want to succeed? Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your next Internet marketing campaign:

• Don’t just focus on one thing. Include as many strategies as possible into your campaign to improve your maximum reach.
• Use a professional sales copy writer who knows how to close the sale.
• Coordinate your e-mail marketing, blog marketing, and PPC advertising so that they all point potential customers to the right landing page to close the sale.
• Don’t leave out off line marketing. Television and radio are very effective for driving traffic to your website.
• Don’t allow yourself to get too narrowly focused.
• Define your goals early on and make everything you do propel yourself toward that goal.
• Set a realistic budget and stick with it.

This is a composite view of Internet marketing success, but these are important points. You want to coordinate your efforts in every area of marketing and not limit your ability to reach your audience. Internet marketing is not too different from traditional marketing. You still need to plan.

One of the most powerful business strategies in the world is to partner with a similar, but noncompeting business. Many successful businesses do this all the time. Find a professional who offers a related service, but that doesn’t compete directly with yours, and share marketing collateral, office space, or other business expenses, even marketing.

Lawyers and CPAs do this all the time, especially if they target the same clientele. For instance, a lawyer that specializes in corporate law and an accountant that specializes in corporate accounting can partner by sharing office space, sharing the same marketing space on billboards, flyers and brochures, and even television and radio. You can also partner by going in together on a website and sharing office supplies and equipment. There are many ways to you can partner with complimentary businesses and services. Look around in your area for similar businesses with similar goals and see how you can share resources to reach the same target audience. It will save you a lot of money in the long run on business expenses.