One of the best brands for this is of course Virgin, each time virgin launch a new part of their company there is some whacky stunt – such as Richard Branson running around the streets naked. Anyway…

For a few week’s I’d been looking at airlines and the type of things they do. Most are boring, but some have fun – at Christmas they may have a Santa painted on the cone but that’s about it. So today when I stumbled across Kulula, I was excited. This is a brand which is engaging, fun and most of all makes you smile. With that in mind I want to share a few more pictures with you of their planes!

Above of course is their Movember plane – don’t forget to sponsor me this Movember.

Where are your pilots?

Black = Orange?

Attention Grabbing

Where did it go?

just in case the pilot forgets

That zips up this post

Thanks to Kulula.com for allowing use of these pictures.

Branding in Action: Kulula was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

Below are some examples of logo redesigns, which do you think have mad the service and company appear improved or better in some way? leave a comment and let us know.

So which were the best, which failed, which impress and which don’t? You tell me?

Also if you have a logo redesign to share, tweet @andykinsey

Logo Redesigns – Do they always work? was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

When you first start out online as an “artist” it can be quite daunting thinking about how to be seen through the crowd of other artists, in the same niche. But alas success is within reach, in 3 steps, you can ensure your portfolio is seen, admired and drives business.

Design, Develop & Deploy

Step 1 – Design a Killer Portfolio

As an artist you will naturally want to create the best portfolio around. Not just in your little niche but the best overall. This was certainly one of my aims when I redesigned my Website and Graphic Design portfolio earlier this year. So what are the minimum requirements for a “killer portfolio” website?

• Examples Your Work (with case studies if applicable)
• Your Skills (tell them what you can do, plain and simple)
• Your Personality (don’t make the mistake of being bland, show your passion)
• Your Style (the design itself should reflect your work and style)

Notice I say examples of your work. As a designer I’ve working with far to many companies to name or show my work. Show only your best work, things you are proud of – writing a case study should be simple – if its a painting explain what it shows and means to you, if its a website explain what work went into it etc. Creating a portfolio isn’t expensive or hard work – if money is an issue use a system like behance or deviantart they are free though not quite as professional, if you want higher quality use a professional web designer (like me)

Step 2 – Develop your arena

This section I will keep short and sweet, a subsequent post will list some ideas of places to do this. Basically this is about blatant self promotion. You have a high quality professional website, it’s time to back it up – join other artist based websites like deviant or folksy or coroflot show off your work on there but make sure each image you upload has your web address in a comment (and watermark the work). This is the development of your brand so again show only your best work, if you’ve other work you can show this too here but don’t show the same 50 pieces of work on 50 websites, show your best plus maybe a few other pieces of random work.

Note though that although these sites may offer you a chance to create a portfolio, such as behance, you dont want to do this – you simply want to show some of your work and point them to your real portfolio. This is why you should join lots of them, you dont have to do them all at this stage, but over a few months or a year maybe.

Step 3 – Deploy in a big way!

Now comes the bit that is likely the hard work for you – more so than creating the perfect portfolio website, promoting that website. But you’ve done a fair bit already by joining the creative communities online (like deviant) but now you need to engage with them, offer to write guest blog posts, comment on blogs about your niche, engage with users on social media (create a facebook page use twitter).

If you are wanting to gain work via your portfolio (not everyone does) then you could link to your LinkedIn profile, join other communities such as forums, read up about internet marketing (you already are by reading this blog), put it on your great business card – but most of all have fun doing it. Don’t be a stickler for detail just go out have fun and tell people they should take a look at your work.

Remember though – you never “complete” your portfolio polish it and polish it, add to it, take from it update it love it be it. your portfolio is your existence - never let it go.

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If you know of any amazing portfolios let me know, in the next few weeks I’ll be publishing my top 10 inspirational portfolios from across the creative niches. If you have a great portfolio or know of one let me know! Leave a comment! 

How to Promote Your Design Portfolio was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

Personal Branding / Public Relations

1. Building a list of journalist, writers, editors etc
2. Targeting each piece (if its a politician each piece is about something they have done, is happening or otherwise – basically each piece has its own little audience)
3. Targeting each piece to contact list (editing bits of a piece to appeal to a certain contact or audience they represent)
4. Send It (getting it out into the wild)
5. Measure success (was it published, covered by a newspaper etc)

In Short: Personal Branding on the Web was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

1. Focus on Customer Service
   By providing a world class customer service you can stand out from your competitors.  You can give the ultimate in customer service by understand their needs, wants, desires and of course by always always being friendly.
2. Be Customer Focused
   It isn’t enough to give the best customer service, you have to have a team which eats, sleeps and breathes an ethos of putting the customer first. The team should never be about profit or time keeping (though someone should be responsible for this) they should always be driven by the customers – after all without customers you have no business.
3. In Retail, the key is Detail
   Oh, so corny. But you will probably remember it for that reason. What I am trying to say is dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Make sure product details and specifications are correct and upto date, the same with your images and any feeds you have. Detail will enhance your websites rankings naturally (it’s great content), put you above your competitors (better descriptions than them) and ultimately increase revenue (GOAL!!!).
4. Establish your Brand and your company Values
   Sounds a little odd to mention values, but it really isn’t. Most companies have a natural ethos, some have a mission statement, others just float on by with values in their heads – either way they all have a set way of working and idea of what they want to achieve, these are their values. In E-commerce your first value should be “the customer comes first” then maybe “quality of products” is second etc … make a list of your 10 key values. By clearly defining them you are defining your business and how it operates, this can make you stand out from the crowd.
5. Put Quality in everything you do
   Make sure everything that you do, your team does and you supply is the best it possibly can be. Do testing on everything your team does and you supply. You and your company should always strive to provide the best service everyday and each & every time your team interacts with a person (your website counts as part of your team).
6. Get the best from your team
   You should now begin to understand that you need to get the best out of everything, and this could mean lots more training of staff to ensure they give their best. But what else can you do to ensure they always give their best? One of the best ways to incentivise a team is to reward them with a bonus for reaching a target or a commission on each sale. But be careful this kind of thing can lead to pressure sales tactics and this is a big “no no!”.
7. Do Not Procrastinate!
   Sitting on your hands humming and ahh-ing gives your competitors an advantage because you are not moving forward, you become a spectator sat on the fence. So get down before you give your backside some splinters, make a decision and go with it – if it doesn’t work try another way. What ever you do, the world is moving fast, so don’t stop moving!
8. It isn’t quantum physics
   Selling things has been happening since the dawn of man, well it started with bartering as we see it today. Anyway to be blunt, people buy an item from you, you are selling it at cost+margin make sure you do the maths and you are making a profit. There is nothing like a business loosing money to bring team spirit down with a bump.
9. Get and Use, Facts and Information.
   Basically this means analyse any data about your site you can get your hands on, and your competitors if you can. Use the information to define and refine the shopping experience for the user. By analysing the information you can diagnose potential problems and fix them before it becomes a problem. You can also see “hotspots” and replicate them to make the most of your site’s real estate.
10. Enjoy Yourself!
    The journey that is SEO is one that means you have to work hard, but you should also play hard. Take yourself and your team out whenever you can, there is nothing like a few drinks down the local (pub) to get colleagues nattering and increase team spirit and it will help your team to bond and grow together. It also means you will end up with a team that is well rounded and loves their boss, because they respect their staff and treat them well.

Still wanting more tips for increasing your online revenue?
click here to see 40 great ways to improve your online sales.

We also recently posted 10 great ways to boost your online sales.

10 Essential Tips for Online Retailers was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

Designing a business card is about more than putting a little text on a small piece of card that fits in a wallet. It is about making you and your business stand out from the crowd, making you stick in someones memory and being the first person they recall when they want a job doing. There are four key aspects to the perfect business card design; being top of the pile, standing out, enhancement and implementation. These may sound quite confusing and it may take you some time to get your head around the almost endless possibilities for business card design – but when you do, it will be worth it.

A Simple Business Card

Being Top of the Pile

Think back to the last networking meeting, conference or trade show you went too – I am sure you gave out lots and lots of business cards right? Good. When you passed them over what was the reaction of the majority of people? Did they compliment the design, did they shove it in their pocket, did they show your business card to someone else or maybe well erm they ripped it up? Regardless of what they did it will explain how good or bad your card is. Great stuff if the compliment the design and ask for another one or two, pitting it in their pocket is ok, showing it around is good stuff – ripping it up well I hope for that rudeness you walked away!

Top of the Pile in business card design means that you will be literal top of the pile when it comes to them saying “hello” following an event, stay in their collection of cards (or better still their wallet) and it also means you will never be forgotten.

To be top of the pile though you need to have an amazing card, to do this you need all of the below ideas and then some awesome content!

Standing Out from the crown

To give you an idea of what stands out with business cards, I want you to try something for me. Take a selection of anywhere between 20 and 50 business cards, lay them out on a table and then go and grab a coffee. When you come back the idea is you won’t remember most of the cards, now look over the cards briefly spend no more than 30 seconds in total and pick out maybe 5 to 10 cards that stand out to you. Hide the rest of the cards. With those cards think about them for a minute each, why does that card stand out and does it in some way relate to their business? or is it just a gimmick? maybe it’s actually their brand?

Some things that may stand out to you are:

• Colour
  Colour is a fantastic tool in any designers arsenal, the colour of a business card doesn’t have to respect guidelines (oops did I really say that?). What I mean is there is no reason why your business card can’t be bright red or bright yellow. It’s attention grabbing and even when at the back of someones wallet will stand out from other business cards and well debit cards.
• Use of Imagery
  An eye catching graphic (maybe in the logo) made to stand out, or a great photo of a person means that a brand or that person will be instantly recognised next time you see them. Add to this there are VERY few business cards with the picture of a person on them and it adds to a business card which stand out from the crowd. An example of this is Councillor Kevin Peel’s business card (check my design site to see this).
• Horizontal vs Vertical vs Other!
  I could spend a whole post talking about these virtues in design, but suffice to say business cards which stand out maybe be vertical (not many are) others may be an awesome trifold design!
• Simplicity in design
  It speaks for itself, but above you can see an example of a business card for Councillor Jake Morrison, the business card is very simple but for this reason alone stands out from others.

Now you’ve done this exercise you may have some more ideas of what should be on your own business cards, but now lets take a look at how you can go even further with your business card design.

Ways to Enhance Your Business Card

Now you’ve seen other business cards, hopefully, in a  new light you will want to go further with your own business card design. Why not think about the following ideas, some will be more expensive than others, some more effective than others, and some will just (well) be out of your idea of “good” and ignored! I don’t blame you but here are some suggestions.

• Funny Shape Business Cards (a bite out of a card?)
• Something On or In your business card (seeds for a flower business?)
• Chocolate Business Cards (mmm expensive and may melt)
• Trading (or playing cards)
• Information Business Cards (hair dressers with prices on reverse)
• Pop-up Business Cards (offer a unique perspective on your business)
• Credibility Additions (logos of accreditation)
• Rubber Stamps (instead or as well as business cards)
• Unique Material (use felt or metal business cards)
• Multiple Language Business Cards (why reserve yourself to just english?)

Implementation of Business Card Design

Some cards I designed

Someone once told me “great ideas are a penny a dozen, but great implementation is priceless” and it is very much true. In a world with some many people out networking continually, yes your card has to stand out, give that something extra but it also has to be implemented amazingly well to make that special difference.

There are many companies out there that will print your card amazingly well, there are also just as many not to trust. If you are working with a designer who has come up with a unique shape or a card that requires die cutting – then always go with the suggestion of the designer when it comes to printing (because not many places will do these jobs complete justice). If your card is a normal rectangular shape my advice is to try somewhere like Moo.com or UK FastPrint or VistaPrint.

Once your business card is complete, send me a picture so I can post it and show it off for you!
Simply email it to me – contact*at*andykinsey.co.uk
You can also do the above if you already have a pretty awesome business card.

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We recently also posted 25 amazing business card designs – take a look at them and send us yours today.

Designing an Awesome Business Card was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

Choosing a Great Brand Name

Whether you are a new business choosing a brand name for the first time, or you are a business embarking on a brand realignment, you need to think carefully about what a brand name is and what difference it can make to the fortunes of your business. Choosing a brand name can be the most nerve racking part of any branding process, its a name that can make or break a company, it can decide if someone will walk through a shop door or walk past and more than this it’s name that unless your a super huge company you are going to be stuck with for some years to come. So choosing the right brand name is vital!

Finding a name to suit your business, a task that even us marketers can struggle with. There are a few major routes we start with and then diverge from as ideas are formed. But basically they fall into one of a few categories, and those are:

Abbreviation Names
These are brand names which are made of using the first letter of each word in a longer name, as is obviously suggested. It’s useful for companies with big long names or international companies who’s names maybe unpronounceable in other countries. Can you think of any brand names which are acronyms? What about…

• IKEA – Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd
• UPS – United Parcel Service
• AMD – Advance Micro Devices
• AOL – America OnLine

And lest we forget that the abbreviations often sound much nicer, are more memorable and erm sexier even?

Descriptive Brand Names
These are bran names which are created as a description of what a company does, generally a useful way to advertise a company via it’s name. They are so common that they are easy to overlook, think of the literature that comes through your door for take-aways … last week we had “Spice hut”, “Indian cuisine” & “No 1. Wok” – all descriptive in their own way and you can probably guess the type of food they do even when drunk (which for the most part is the idea with these leaflets!). Thinking about better well known brand names there is “Pizza Hut”, “FootLocker” & FarmFoods”.
Combined or Conjunctive  Brand Names

Acronym or Combined?

The last two brand names above (footlocker and farmfoods) are perfect examples of combined names. These are brand names which as you may have already guessed are two words placed as one, usually the two words will have separate meanings, giving you brand name a dual aspect – which can be quite nice, think farmfoods (farm = fresh, food = what you want). Other examples of combined brand names are Microsoft, Coca-Cola and FedEx.

Object (Non Associated) Brand Names
When you think of a brand name, its probably going to fall into one of the above categories, very few will fall into the Non Associated group, and that’s because they can be fairly hard to market. On the other hand they can be used to make your brand stand out from the crowd and more memorable. Some great examples in this category are: Apple (computers or fruit) , Orange (mobiles or fruit) and Fuji (camera company or mountain?).

Founders Name Brand Names
Some of these can be very very popular, many will fit into other categories above. You will probably know a good number of these without needing to think too hard, although if you’ve never thought about the names (as is their desire) then you may not realise that the company is named after a person. As an independent graphic designer and website designer, I know all too well the hassles of “getting your name out”, so for a bigger company this will be a huge undertaking and unless starting as a single person it may not be worth he effort. Some great examples of this kind of brand name are “Andy Kinsey Designs” (end plug), Adidas, Disney and Ernst & Young.

and Finally…. Out of the Box Brand Names

Out of the Box!

Now this may conjure up some idea you have of a name being “off the shelf” like a piece of software or something… one size fits all. But these are pretty much the opposite, these are names which you’d probably never think of as being business names, many are made up and most (if you read books about brand names) are apparently though of in a dream. However you come up with an out the box name, you should think of you business being in a biscuit tin, each step you take in preparing your business takes it up a ladder in the tin … to get out of the tin you need a really awesome name … but there are so many names out there – so why not make one up… think outside of your little tin world and jump out of the box. You never know you may end up a big success like: Google, Yahoo! or Bing.

Do you / have you used any of the above techniques in creating your memorable brand name? or did you have a different method of choosing your perfect brand name? either way let us know how you did it, and what your brand name is below! 

How to Choose the Perfect Brand Name was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

Here are my top 10 reasons why your small business needs a website.

1. Reach More Potential Customers
   Whether you are targeting locals or the whole world, having a website for your small business means you can reach more of your audience, much more easily and cheaply. The children of the 90′s are now in their 20′s and have disposable income. They grew up with the internet and it’s their primary tool to find information, products and compare almost everything – so if they are part of your target audience a website is a must.
2. It’s Always there
   Your office / shop may have hours of 9 to 5, Monday to Friday but why should that mean you have to stop selling or stop telling people why to do business with you? Exactly, you shouldn’t have to stop – a website is your 24/7 salesman, that costs a small percentage of a real sales man.
3. Generate a Professional Image
   A professionally designed business website is a sure way to instil confidence in new customers who may not be familiar with your business. Maybe they are comparing you with another business who don’t have a website, your website will help to give an impression that they are dealing with a company they can trust. A professional image will also generate a subconscious level of trust in your company.
4. No More Yellow Pages!
   

   Small Business Website - Client: sarahpetrie.co.uk

   Remember in the 90′s we’d get a huge yellow book on our door step, it got thinner and thinner until today it’s … well tiny. The reason for this is the Yellow Pages, just like other telephone directories, are a thing of the past. If someone wants to find a “Piano Lessons in Hyde” they search for it online, they usually don’t even consider looking at a paper directory.  Also due to the decline in size of the paper directory less and less are being delivered, so what was once in every household is no in relatively few.

5. Always up to date!
   Most quality websites are designed using a Content Management System, basically an administration area so that you are in control of the website. If you need a change to some content or to add products or view orders placed on a website, you can without needing to ask your website designer! Day or Night you can always update, add or delete content – making your website Always Up to Date!
   One example of a CMS is WordPress, it is the most widely used CMS in the world and is estimate to power over 30 million websites, including this website!
6. Improved Customer Service
   Your website is an omnipresent member of your business team. It’s the salesman, your customer service and often the engine behind your business – aka the thing that pays the bills. It is due to it’s always being there that you can use it to improve customer service, adding a FAQ section or even just information about returns and delivery policies can stop hundreds of questions via phone calls to your already busy team. So instead of your team spending 3 hours a day on the phone, maybe they just need to take one call from an upset customer correcting an order – saving you hundreds and hundreds of pounds a day!
7. Instant Gratification for Users
   People are busier today than they have ever been in the past, our hectic schedules and hours of travelling mean we want information now and not to wait. Give your users what they want, information. By providing information that customers want you are giving them some kind of gratification instantly, making them slightly happier such that they release endorphins, and so the better quality your information the more likely you are to get that users custom!
8. Automation = More £££’s!
   You can highly automate some parts of your business online which in turn will free up other resources / staff to other parts of your business. An online store allows people to view information on an order, pay online and not really require sales staff – this alone could save hours of resource time. Systems can integrate with websites, so accounting and stock control can be integrated meaning life is much easier and there is no need for dual input! You can automate the calling of orders to your warehouse, if you’ve robots like Amazon great its all done for you, if you’re not so big you may still need more staff to pick and pack. Other examples of integration are booking systems, your beauty salon can book appointments, if you do training sessions you can book people in without needing to take potentially thousands of phone calls.
9. Advertising Costs Go Down
   The better your website the less need for external advertising, such as newspaper classified. There will always be advantages to having say a TV advert of big billboard, but must of us small businesses can’t afford that. Your website should become the key calling card for your business – its your business card that sells itself and you – add yourself to lots of free directories (I advise you not to pay – ever for an online directory submission) get your name known on blogs and in forums. Soon your website will become more popular, you’ll get more custom and your turnover and profits will go skywards.
10. Inexpensive and Almost Risk Free!
    All of the above benefits are great, but you probably think it will cost you thousands of pounds. You’d be wrong though, websites can be fairly cheap to set up – there are of course companies who charge buckets for not very much – but there are also small design business such as my own which have much lower overheads and enjoy a much closer connection to clients – we tend to charge much much less. Once your website is set up, the annual cost of keeping it going can be relatively love – depending on your agreement it can cost as little as your hosting and domain costs.

If you are looking for a website for your small business, I offer solutions from as little as £95 (one off) or you can pay monthly for as little as £25! So you don’t need to spend those thousands on a small business website – none of my clients have so why should you? Take a look at some of my client work by visiting Andy Kinsey Designs today, if you like what you see why not get your website up and running by contacting me for a free quote.

Top 10 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Website was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

Blogging is a very popular activity, past-time even, for many individuals and businesses. The rewards can be little or large, from families sharing photos and stories to businesses passing on vital information to potential customers or maybe as a source of near direct revenue. Either way there is a huge case for your small business to start blogging, or if you are blogging to continue blogging.

So here are my reasons as to why you and your business should be blogging:

• Blogging is great for Organic SEO
  A business blog with great content will gain linkbacks, it will help to drive traffic and help your business profile online grow.
• Blogging builds Persona’s
  Little odd to say but each company has a persona, blogging can help you change how your company is viewed via this persona. This is even more the case with blogs such as Chief Executive blogs or individuals blogging from different areas as you can show your company as being multi-faceted and to have a better persona than your competition – one such example of this would be a blog on The Christie website of their Chief Executives blog, and also National Rail Enquiries Chief Exec’s blog.
• Blogging extends your profile beyond Social Media
  Given all the hype around Social Media you will have noticed despite spending a lot of time on social media myself I don’t often talk much about it. I still dabble in helping clients with social media but most of my work in terms of marketing is still Organic SEO and Web Design. Anyway … Social Media isn’t everything, its not the be all and end all, your website is pretty close though – it’s the one thing you will probably always have most control over and the place you want your best content to be. You can control everything so make the most out of it and remember Content is King!
• Blogging shows your businesses is top of the tree
  Odd saying there, but I use it quite a lot. What I mean by top of the tree is number one in your industry, local market for an industry / niche and the your blogging commands respect from others. Being top of the tree also means that your company, your website and your blog all have authority – both in the minds of people and for search engines (which of course improves your rankings).
• Blogging helps to ensure you are a Resource
  In my post earlier in the week I speak about “being the resource”, but on twitter you have only 140 characters … it’s hard to be the resource. So take 20 of them away and link to one of your blogs / articles, make the article a resource as well as your tweets. Being a blog resource means you have great information, usually quite detailed, your website looks good and does what it says on the tin. For example the CheapTents Outdoors Blog can be a resource as it gives advice on such things as preventing tick bites, its not exactly on topic as it’s not camping but it is within the realms of the users interest (and this is key).
• Blogging “Enables” Your Business
  A blog can encourage conversation both with new and old customers, plus anyone with a passing interest in your field (this can often include other companies within your market, your competitors). Discussions in your comments are health even if someone is disagreeing with you, it gives you a chance to show that your business can be open minded whilst firmly showing business ethic and of course being very friendly. Comments and discussions will also encourage customer loyalty and encourage others to talk. In this sense it “Enables” your company to network and make the most of your network, indeed blogging also opens the door to a higher chance of press contacting your business should a story arise in your sector of interest.
• Blog because your Competitors already do
  That’s right, even if they aren’t within 10 or 20 miles of  (say your taxi) business, each similar business in your region, your nation, and for some the world are your competition. It is your job to beat them, as you know. Lots of this competition are already blogging, creating great content to increase their search rankings, their search traffic and increase revenue – it’s time you jumped on board
• Blogging can Help you Sell - if you’re careful
  I do urge caution upon this point, primarily because I do not believe ANY blog should ever be “just a selling tool” or “a chance to promote a product” or even “to say we’ve a sale / discount this week” … direct sales do NOT work in blogs. Sure have a few sidebar links to products, services or sales – but do not go on and on about things you sell in blogs. Once in a bluemoon then fine, I can accept that at Christmas you may want to push sales but not every week or month or even day! An idea to be careful is to add a little box at the foot of each post talking about upcoming sales or best selling products … or even better to sign them up to a newsletter where you can sell to them directly!
• Blogs can Keep Giving
  Blog posts are pieces of content that keep giving, they can continually drive important traffic (and so sales) as well as show that your company over time is an industry leader, increasing its reputation. An email newsletter on the over hand is a “one off stunt” yes it can be archived but in general it’s not indexed by search engines and not seen by many people, a blog in indexed, archived and is likely to rank better over time and keep giving back to you (as long as you’ve some awesome content).
• Blogging is Easy, Cheap and Enjoyable
  No, really it is. It is easy because you maybe able to write post after post for 3 hours, then you schedule your posts across a week or month … you can do it on a bus, train, plane, in a car, in your garden or even in your office (obviously). It’s also easy because you, yourself don’t have to do everything, you can ask others in the business or related to the business to help (if they are outsiders say so in the blog, give them a link to their site, and it’s likely they will link back). It’s Cheap because there are lots of blogging platforms that are free (including the one I love, WordPress) I advise you host it on your own server at an address something like blog.example.com or example.com/blog – nice and simple … you already have your own website presumably so adding a blog to it will cost nothing but a little time and effort (<plug>and if you get stuck I can install and configure blogs from just £75 </plug>). And it’s enjoyable because not everything you talk about will be work … for example you can talk about news in your industry or something totally off topic – though it’s a good idea to have a tenuous link somewhere.

So there they are 10 great reasons for you to start blogging today. Ok there are more than 10 above if you read between the lines, but there are 10 key points.

If you have any suggestions for this list leave a comment below or tweet @andykinsey

10 Great Reasons for Small Businesses to Blog was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk

Top Twitter Tips for Business

1. Be a Real Person
   This may sound odd and almost dumb on the surface but think about it. There are corporations and companies out there that are like robots, they auto-generate tweets based on the latest news, which can be nice, but they don’t engage with other users and their customers. They are “face-less” and this means that users almost immediately will feel alienated, this is why companies such as @virgintrains talk to those who talk to them. They tell them to have a nice journey or answer any query, even if its a case of contact us by phone … a reply on twitter is better than no reply (for the most part). it may help to give your twitter account a persona, so if its customer service  maybe imagine a nice young lady with a caring tone, and stick to it… if you’ve a team it’s a little harder but maybe have a group of accounts 3 or 4 with names like @123_sharon @123_ben etc so they are clearly all connected.
2. Post Continually
   In essence it does what it says on the tin. What this doesn’t mean is spend every minute on twitter or other social media platforms such as facebook. This will have an odd effect on your business unless your are say a web design agency, indeed you may find as most do there is a balance to be found  between being productive in other work and making the most of social media. One way to gauge this is to see what effect spending 1 day a week for 2 weeks and then an hour a day each day for 2 weeks has … my guess is the later will be better. Another tip here is that most browsers allow you to “pin” to the toolbar, this means you can pin your “mentions” to the toolbar and it will become highlighted when you get mentioned, alternatively try some applications such as tweetdeck. This means you can get some “real work” done as some of my clients call it.
3. Listen to other users
   Twitter is not about straight selling, its about engagement and interaction – and you can only interact properly and wholly if you are listening. So if someone tweets you respond, even if it’s a curt response. If you spot something being said (not to you) but is in your business field of interest retweet it or say something about it, don’t let it pass by, become part of the conversation. Also part of listening is following, if someone tweets you something nice or interesting follow them, it will encourage them to talk more and the more they talk the more their followers see your name and the more likely they will be to talk and follow you – and likely bring some business too.
4. Be the Resource
   make your twitter account the place to go for the latest information in your sector. If you are a Gym for instance post to the latest journal about treadmills effecting health, about vitamin D etc … post around your area and not just about your Gym… see the bigger picture
5. Don’t Give Up
   Sounds silly again but I have seen many accounts go dormant or cease to exist in my 4 years on twitter. When someone doesn’t tweet for 2 or 3 months when I notice I unfollow and I’m unlikely to follow them again … dormant twitter accounts look bad, smell bad and can ultimately loose you business – twitter is a long-term game for a long-term gain … stick with it.

At this point I want to give a mention to Tameside Business Community, an online local resource and discussion area for businesses in Tameside whom prompted me to write this post and are really quite nice people.

And also do follow myself @andykinsey

If you have any other tips for businesses using twitter leave a comment below.

Small Business on Twitter? My Top 5 Tips was written by Andy Kinsey and published on SEOAndy.com SEOAndy.com is an internet marketing blog where you can find free hints and tips to improve your SEO strategy. SEOAndy.com is part of Andy Kinsey Designs, Andy is a designer and marketer from Manchester. Visit http://andykinsey.co.uk