Attract Customers All Year with 2012 Calendars

One of the easiest and most effective ways to get 12 months of marketing in one print job is by creating a company calendar. Hung on walls in plain sight for anyone to see, an eye catching calendar that promotes your small business will work wonders to attract new and returning customers.

If you are an animal shelter, clients will love to take home your calendar featuring adorable, adoptable pets! Or restaurant patrons just might have to stop by your burger joint for February’s Bacon Cheeseburger after staring at it all day at work. The options are endless.

image via MyZeroWaste

Holiday newsletters keep customers connected to you!

Keeping in touch with your customers is a great way to build a community around your local business. Constant communication will keep your customers returning for your goods and services, and increase your authenticity as a brand. Sending out a monthly or quarterly newsletter is an excellent way to do all of these things and more.

Whether you have been sending out newsletters to your Sonoma County clients for years or are just seeing the benefits of this marketing tool now, there is no better time to send out a newsletter than during the holiday season!

There are several things you can do to create the perfect holiday newsletter:

• send warm greetings and well wishes to your valued customers

• tell customers about your updated holiday hours and/or vacations

• market holiday deals and specials

• tell customers what your local business has in store for the New Year

No matter what kind of information you are trying to spread, we have trouble thinking of a better way to do so than within a newsletter. Don’t forget to work with your graphic designer to work a little holiday cheer into your newsletter design!

Great business logos make lasting impressions…

What’s the first thing you think of when you think about the electronic retailer Best Buy? For most, it is a giant yellow price tag that features the words “Best Buy” in bold black letters. A successful logo should represent your brand and give customers something to remember without knowing anything about your business.

How frequently should I update my business blog?

Your blog is one of the most important aspects of your business’ online persona. Business blogging is an excellent marketing tool that establishes you as an expert in your field. It gives you a chance to show off your knowledge as well as your character, attracting new customers to you and your business.

You may be an excellent writer, but how are your blogging skills? In general, blog readers are not looking for a single large article written three years ago (no matter how informational it is); they are searching for an interesting and relevant set of posts that will continue to enlighten them into the future.

This being the case, you should be sure to blog on a consistent basis. Depending on your business, you may want to blog once—or seven days–a week. Readers like their routines, and will be let down when they can’t read your thoughts over their morning cups of coffee. ; )

How can you improve your business website?

If your business website has been gathering dust at the bottom of the search engine results, consider a free website evaluation by Ajalon! There are several simple ways to clean up and improve your website, ensuring you attract customers, communicate with clients and get found on search engines.

In your complimentary evaluation we’ll cover the basics, as well as elements of your webpage that will bring your business to the top.

Design
Ajalon will evaluate your business website’s design, including graphics, navigation and content.

SEO
Your search engine optimization is critical for your business website. Ajalon will determine how your keywords, tags, descriptions and content can be improved upon.

Social Media
Ajalon will evaluate the share-ability of your website’s pages, ensuring your goods and services can be shared on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Request your free website evaluation by Aug 31, 2011!

Your Customers Love Quality Business Newsletters

Even in this digital age, newsletters are an essential part of your business marketing. Newsletters can both inform and excite prospective customers about your business, while current clients truly appreciate your news and updates.

There are many ways to create an engaging and informative newsletter. Here are a few of those strategies:

Frequency

How often are you sending out your newsletters? Customers can get overwhelmed by too many updates in given amount of time, so focus on creating a single monthly newsletter that engages your audience and draws new clients to your business.

If you are sending out newsletters too infrequently, your clients are bound to forget that your business exists. Be consistent, but don’t overwhelm.

Themes

Creating your newsletter around a certain subject or theme is guaranteed to boost readership. An organized newsletter is definitely easier for consumers to digest as opposed to cluttered information.

Readability

You are writing to clients, but are you communicating with them? Readers are sure to enjoy your newsletter content when it is written in a way they can relate to. Don’t be so serious, have some fun!

Graphics and Photos

Including graphics or photos in your newsletter is a definite way to keep your readers interested. Most individuals are visually stimulated, and your clients will appreciate that they are not drowning in text.

~

Your business newsletter is bound to bring in new and returning customers with these simple tips. Are there other ways you have spruced up a dull newsletter in the past?

Part 2: How Writing a Blog for Your Business Will Make You Money!

View Part 1: How to Use Blogs to Drive Traffic for Small Businesses

It is well known that people feel more favorably about you if you give them something for free. Beyond just connecting with your current customers, writing a blog for your business offers you a chance to share your many years of experience, expertise and knowledge in your field.

By doing this you can connect with thousands of potential customers.

When someone in your local area is searching for a service that your business provides, if you have a blog, there is a good chance that one of your blog posts will show up in their Google search. If they happen to see that post and enjoy reading it, then it is very likely that they will contact you.

For instance, lets say someone searches ‘Santa Rosa Dentists’ in Google. If you have two blog posts written with those words in it then it is likely that those posts will show up on the Google results page. Then subconsciously (or consciously) that person will begin to think and feel that you must be the most impressive and expert dentist in Santa Rosa.

This translates into new leads, customers and internet authority that can only be achieved by writing a blog.

If you have any questions about writing a business blog, please do not hesitate to ask us.

Part 1: How to Use Blogs to Drive Traffic for Small Businesses

Writing a blog offers you a chance to share your expertise in your field, announce special offers or services that you may provide and answer reader’s questions that can and will transform them into future customers.

For small, local businesses, writing a blog easily translate into increases in revenue.

Starting with the basics, a blog is a space on a website that you (or anyone for that matter) can publish whatever they want in an organized and coherent manner. Typically a blog will have a focused theme that specifically relates to your businesses industry, and each individual blog post should somehow relate to this subject.

It is best if you pick a very specific topic for each post and keep it short (100-300 words is best), that way if someone is reading it they do not get overwhelmed or lose interest. Blog posts should be tailored for your customers or potential future customers, not other experts in the field.

You could use the articles you have already written and edit them a little to fit this basic format. You can include links to different portions of your website, direct readers to your contact information and the readers can leave comments or questions for you, which you can answer at your leisure.

If there are questions that people frequently ask you, it would make sense to write a blog post about the most common questions people ask. Blogs are not as interactive as an online ‘chat room,’ so you do not need to worry about always being on your computer or being a slave to answering peoples questions.

In my next post, I will explain how small business blogs can create an ROI.

If you have any questions about writing a business blog, please do not hesitate to ask us.

Yahoo Local Listings Basic Is Free

Yahoo offers a free listing with your basic information for free, but charges $9.95/month for all of the features that Google Places includes for free.  I would still advise you to use their basic service.  It is free and it puts you in front of people who are using Yahoo and looking for local businesses.

With your free business listing in Yahoo Local you can display your address, phone number and web site URL if you have one.  As Yahoo says, this is just basic information, but you can put your business in up to 5 categories.  This is helpful.

For example, at Ajalon we could be under printers and we could also put an entry into copying, graphic design, wedding invitations and letterpress.  That would mean that if a person searched for any one of those terms our business would likely come up in a Yahoo search.  You can do this for your business also.

You may sell flooring. But you could have listings under carpets, hardwood floors, floor refinishing and commercial flooring.  All of these additional listings would be available to you if people were searching for these items.

Included in this basic listing is the ability to list the products, services or brands that you have.  For example if you carried garden equipment who could list all the brands like Toro, Black and Decker, Stihl, Snapper and other brands.  Or if you were a spa you could list all the services you offer such as facials, manicures, pedicures, massage and other offerings.

People from your area are searching every day for the products and services you offer.  Yahoo knows this and has built a service to help them find what they want.  Yahoo invites you to cooperate with them in meeting the needs of people searching.  For free.  This is really unprecedented.  When was the last time the newspaper, tv or radio asked you to advertise your business for free, so that their patrons could satisfy what they were looking for or needed?

If you would like help in setting up this free service from Yahoo give us a call.  707.528.0288.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

Sonoma County Businesses Can Get Free Listing on Google

The way people find businesses has changed, and now more people search online than anywhere else.  I don’t usually promote something so blatantly, but I think the possibilities of being found in local business listings can benefit any business. Google, Bing and Yahoo all do it for free and I will tell you how each does it.

Creating a listing through Google Places takes a little bit of time, but it makes it more likely that you can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps.  And as I’ve said before, it doesn’t cost a thing.

Your business listing probably already shows up on Google, but by going into Google Places you can update information and verify that it is accurate.  You can also add notifications, which can give you a fresh, current appearance to your listing.  And you don’t even need a website in order to maintain your listing.

Customization is easy

One of the advantages of setting up your own listing is that you can add photos and videos.  You can create custom categories, personalizing your information, adding things like business hours, parking and even offer coupons to encourage customer to make a first-time or repeat purchase.

Verification is valuable

Google collects information to fill your business listing.  If you go in and verify that you are authorized to represent the company, Google then allows you to personalize your information.  In addition to being able to add your own details about your business, Google will also begin to collect data that can be helpful to you in running your business.  This can allow you to make changes that will help you increase your business.

Training Videos Available

Google wants to make this service accessible and useable.  There are numerous online videos which explain how to set up  your business listing.  It is clear that  the battle for people’s attention and search clicks is so intense, that the search engines are fighting for market share and your business can benefit because you can get great information out about your business onto the first page of a search.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design