Busy Man Power Teen Movement is a Chicago Youth Program that offers mentorship, counseling and violence reduction programs. This video shows the Busy Man's "Hoopaz" team competing in a basketbally tournament they won. Busy Man Power Teen works to keep teens in school and is working with principals to identify at risk teens to get them involved in our Chicago Youth Program. Video produced by RightSide Inc.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
How can a business grow today?
What is the goal of being in business? The best definition I have found is to make money now and more in the future. So, hopefully, wherever we are in our current business situation we are making a profit now. I know that's not true for everyone, but I sure hope it's the goal for every business owner. Then, most if not all business owners would like to be making more money (profit) in the future.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
How to select the keywords for your website to improve your page rank.
In order to succeed at internet marketing a website must draw traffic. Drawing traffic to a website begins with keyword selection. A website owner must select the keywords they want to compete for and build a priority list. In this article I discuss the process I go through with customers to select their keywords and what criteria we use to prioritize them for the SEO process.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
How can a business increase the traffic to their website?
Recommendations for business owners who wish to generate more traffic to their websites
I am frequently asked by business owners how they can create more traffic to their websites and ultimately convert the traffic into revenue generating customers.
Ultimately, getting traffic to a website comes down to getting the website noticed. There are several methods to do this. I'll break them into the categories of paid and unpaid.
Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is definitely easier and depending on the value of a business' customer may be economically viable. Paid advertising on the internet is not terribly different than traditional forms of advertising. Ad copy is written and the ads are submitted. However, the method for presenting the advertisement to the viewer is completely different and there are several pricing models involved. Ads are displayed to a viewer on the internet based on keywords. When an internet user performs a search on the internet he/she enters in a phrase which contains one or more keywords. Advertisers specify which keywords they believe are relevant to their advertisements and businesses and submit a bid amount. The ads with the highest bids for a keyword are presented most frequently and ads with lower bids are shown less frequently. Advertisers control their spending by setting daily, weekly or monthly budgets. When their budgets have been met, their ads stop showing.
There are two basic pricing models for paid internet advertising, Pay Per Click (PPC) and Pay Per View (CPV). In the Pay Per Click model, the advertiser pays only when a viewer actually clicks on their ad and is re-directed to the advertisers specified site. In the Pay Per View model, the advertiser pays each time their advertisement is shown regardless of whether the viewer clicks on their ad or not. Pay Per View is typically charged per thousand views and can be much more productive when the ad is particularly effective.
Unpaid Advertising
Unpaid advertising requires significantly more diligence. It requires becoming what the major search engines consider to be an authority. In order to achieve this status the site must receive frequent relevant content updates and have that content published on other sites which are also considered authoritative. When a websites content is accepted by and reference by authoritative sites a site receives what is called a backlink. Backlinks are simply links from other sites "back" to the target site. In the eyes of the search engines, the more backlinks the better.
Another item which can significantly help a domain rank well in the search engines is in the selection of the domain name itself. Many business owners select the domain of their website based on the name of their business. This is understandable but does little to help us attract traffic. Internet users rarely search for a business name. If they knew the name of the business, they could have just looked it up. Instead, an internet user is typing in a search phrase and is presented with a list of websites that the search engines felt were relevant. There is no higher relevance than the search phrase being contained precisely in the domain name.
When I consult with clients, we first do some preliminary keyword research to identify a significant list of potential search phrases relevant to their business. I like to find a keyword with an adequate search volume and buy a domain for the customer which contains that search phrase. This virtually ensures that we will generate at least some new traffic for that customer.
We then begin the process of examining the keyword list that I have generated, looking at the search volumes and the competition for those keywords to decide where we can get traction quickly. In many cases we find at least one keyword with adequate search volumes and little competition. When this is the case, we can quickly dominate that keyword. Getting a number of the top listings in the search engines can be done in a relatively short time frame when this is true.
The bad news for business owners is that the process is never ending. Optimizing a site for a single search phrase or keyword and stopping there would be ignoring significant volumes of traffic. After I succeed in getting a clients website ranked for a single keyword, we simply repeat the process for the next keyword, and then the next. You get the point. And of course, new keywords keep popping up.
Article Marketing
Business owners possess an amazing amount of knowledge. This knowledge, when shared, is one of the best mechanisms for creating backlinks to a website. There exist literally hundreds of sites which are interested in the knowledge that business owners have to share. These sites are "article directories" and their subscribers are looking for good information. Every time a business owner writes and article and publishes it, another backlink to their website is created. Here's a free tip, if you really want to get noticed by the search engines, get your business associates to read the articles that you have published and comment on them. This really increases how authoritative the search engines consider the publisher.
Business Directories
When was the last time you opened the yellow pages. If you're like most people its been a long time. You may not even be sure you still have one.
However, good, valuable business directories still exist. They have just moved online. Online business directories serve the same purpose as the yellow pages except they provide a business' customer the opportunity to review they business right on line. You probably already guessed this, but reviews in these directories are incredibly important to being considered an authority by the search engines.
Social Network Marketing
There is no denying that Social Networking and Bookmarking sites are taking the internet by storm. Question is, do business owners understand how important they are for growing their businesses. Just one statistic here. Last I heard, Facebook had over 450 million users and gets more than 1 billion visits per day. What's interesting about Facebook is that its users tend to stay on the site for a long time.
So, Mr. or Mrs. business owner, how is your fan page doing? Don't know what a fan page is? You better figure it out, and fast.
Of course, Facebook is only one example of a social site. There are literally hundreds of social sites that can help generate traffic to a website. Again, the objective here is to generate backlinks to our target website.
Video Marketing
Do you really want to bring traffic to your website? Then you need to be doing video marketing.
Everyone's heard of YouTube. Did you know its owned by Google. That may be why Google considers high rankings of videos on YouTube so strongly in establishing their rankings.
I don't care how you do it, but find out how to get videos made and published on YouTube and then make sure you find out how to get them viewed. Another hint, use videos to share your valuable and unique business knowledge.
Where do I start?
I know this probably sounds a little overwhelming, but here are my recommendations.
1. Do the keyword research first. You have to find relevant keywords which have good search volume and have reasonable competition.
2. Find out what keywords your top competitors are using. There are a number of good tools available to help you do this.
3. Start writing out your knowledge to share. If you have a block, a good place to start is by creating top 10 lists.
4. Select your domain based on a good keyword associated with your business niche.
5. Create a blog website (search engines like blogs). Install WordPress as your blog software. Its not hard, don't worry.
6. Take your writings from step 3 and create blog posts for each topic. (Hint - include a keyword in the blog post name).
7. Take the same writings and publish them to the most relevant article directories. Any internet consultant should be able to direct you to the most highly considered article directorires.
8. Create social bookmarks to each blog post everywhere you can.
9. Create videos relaying your companies message and publish them to as many video sites as possible. You can start by just reading you blog posts. If your shy, you don't even need to show your face, create a powerpoint and record your voice giving the presentation.
10. Get your business listed in business directories and the search engines local listings.
11. Encourage your existing customers and associates to review your publications and listings. You'll get more results if you review them as well.
Is that all there is to it?
Well, no. But if you can get all of this done, then more than likely you will be a long way ahead of your competition. And isn't that the point?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Increased energy through repaired cellular function!
People in all walks of life, from elite athletes to the aged, are discovering the benefits of ASEA. ASEA restores the capability of your bodies cells to perform their designed function. You can feel young again!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Recent FDI message change
I've been watching what FDI has been promoting for their telecom customers over they last couple of days and there has been an interesting development.
All of a sudden, FDI is proclaiming the benefits of using MyFi (portable WiFi units available from Sprint and Verizon) to connect to their network.
Personally, I'm confused by this. One of the reasons I would be interested in doing mobile VOIP is to provide internet service to my laptop from my mobile phone and this was one of the promises made by FDI when I first joined. Now they are encouraging people to buy another device (MyFi) so that you can make WiFi calls using their phones from anywhere. In essence, I am being encouraged to spend another $60 per month on a MyFi device so that I can use my mobile VOIP phone.
I have to wonder if this has anything to do with FDI having difficulty getting their phones to work with TMobile or AT&T data cards.
I don't see how this saves any money. One of the bills I was hoping to eliminate for my customers was that of an air card. Now FDI is encouraging the purchase of an air card (in the form of a MyFi device). So, if I use their VOIP service ($22.95/mo) and have an AT&T data card for my phone ($40/mo) and then have to buy a MyFi device ($60/mo), I end up spending $122.95/mo. I also wonder, if I'm depending on the MyFi device to provide internet access for my phone, how do I receive calls when the MyFi device is turned off.
I have to say, I'm not sold on this strategy and it seems like FDI is adding even more complexity to an already very complex offering.
I guess if I had already purchased a MyFi device this might be a useful capability, but why do I want another $60/mo bill when I was supposed to be able to use my phone to do what this device is providing?
All of a sudden, FDI is proclaiming the benefits of using MyFi (portable WiFi units available from Sprint and Verizon) to connect to their network.
Personally, I'm confused by this. One of the reasons I would be interested in doing mobile VOIP is to provide internet service to my laptop from my mobile phone and this was one of the promises made by FDI when I first joined. Now they are encouraging people to buy another device (MyFi) so that you can make WiFi calls using their phones from anywhere. In essence, I am being encouraged to spend another $60 per month on a MyFi device so that I can use my mobile VOIP phone.
I have to wonder if this has anything to do with FDI having difficulty getting their phones to work with TMobile or AT&T data cards.
I don't see how this saves any money. One of the bills I was hoping to eliminate for my customers was that of an air card. Now FDI is encouraging the purchase of an air card (in the form of a MyFi device). So, if I use their VOIP service ($22.95/mo) and have an AT&T data card for my phone ($40/mo) and then have to buy a MyFi device ($60/mo), I end up spending $122.95/mo. I also wonder, if I'm depending on the MyFi device to provide internet access for my phone, how do I receive calls when the MyFi device is turned off.
I have to say, I'm not sold on this strategy and it seems like FDI is adding even more complexity to an already very complex offering.
I guess if I had already purchased a MyFi device this might be a useful capability, but why do I want another $60/mo bill when I was supposed to be able to use my phone to do what this device is providing?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
FDI Telecom
I thought it might be useful to share my experiences regarding FDI's telecom offering from GI Connect.
Let me start by posting a link to their telecom presentation.
http://www.scribd.com/full/19895388?access_key=key-1jes51b6iqdhex0nakfi
FDI offers a number of products which give access to their VOIP network.
They have a normal VOIP adapters which permit a home user with internet access to connect phones to their network directly through their internet connection.
Their premium home VOIP product, the Tri-Net is kind of a PBX system in a box. Like a normal VOIP adapter, you connect the box to a home internet connection and the box gives phones access to FDI/GI Connect's network. The Tri-Net has many features and capabilities to permit the user to set up extensions, block numbers and a whole range of PBX like features. It is geared towards small business users and can be very effective in that role. The Tri-Net also accepts a SIM card (not required) which permits the device to act as a mobile device as well. The benefit behind this is that for cell phone users who want to keep their existing phones and carriers but want to benefit from VOIP pricing, the mobile number for the Tri-Net's SIM card can be added to your "Friends and Family" or "Inner Circle" block of numbers, making the call free from your cell phone. Then, once connected to the Tri-Net and therefore the GI Connect network, you may dial any number and take advantage of VOIP rates. It adds one more step to the process but is a means of providing VOIP service to mobile users without forcing them to change their equipment. They could, of course, lower their plans minutes to reduce their mobile expense.
FDI/GI Connect also offers a device called a Widget which can plug into the line of any phone and automatically connect that phone into the GI Connect network accessing VOIP rates and incurring only a local call on the phone.
Another device offered is a USB phone which works in conjunction with a soft-phone installed on a laptop.
On the mobile side, FDI/GI Connect offers two phones currently.
One phone is called the GI Cell ( I haven't been able to determine the manufacturer but it is obviously made in China). This phone is a Tri-mode phone meaning it can make calls via GSM (normal cell), GPRS (cell provider data network) or WiFi network. I can't say I'm thrilled with the format of the phone. Let's just say it won't induce anyone to give up their smartphone. I received the phone about a month ago and have had no difficulty in making calls on the phone via GSM or WiFi. However, to date, I have not been able to connect to a GPRS network. That's probably the biggest catch with the phone, in order to use the phone in anything other than a WiFi hotspot, you must get a SIM card from a carrier (AT&T and TMobile are the two GSM carriers supported). I am told that TMobile is easier to configure and I believe that (I borrowed a TMobile Sim card at one point and got closer to connecting to their GPRS network than I ever have with AT&T). After a full month of trying, I still have never succeeded in connecting the phone to AT&T's GPRS network. This exposes what I think is the biggest hole in FDI/GI Connects strategy with this phone. The fact that I must get a SIM card from a third party introduces unneeded complexity and opens the door for finger pointing between the SIM provider and FDI/GI Connect. I have to say that AT&T has been very good about trying to help me connect this phone to their network. However, the phone is obscure enough that its identifying IMEI number is not even known on their system. I have received attempts at assistance from a number of FDI reps and they have done their best but are not qualified to diagnose technical issues. I find it disappointing that my calls to the support lines for GI Connect go unanswered and unreturned. This makes me very worried about selling this phone to customers. If there is no tech support, that means by default they would come to me and I obviously haven't been trained well enough to troubleshoot problems with these phones. An interesting side note about this phone is that the charger that it ships with is fitted with a plug for European power outlets. Not a positive. All in all a very frustrating experience.
The second mobile option provided is essentially just a smartphone from HTC. This phone does have videophone capabilities, however you must still get your SIM card and service from AT&T, TMobile, etc. So, the only way to make use of VOIP with this phone is to use it in conjunction with the Tri-Net as described earlier or to use one of FDI/GI Connect's access numbers to dial into their system and then dial the number you would like to call.
In short, I think FDI/GI Connect has put together some interesting technologies for telecom but I fear that it may be too complicated for many customers to deal with.
Let me start by posting a link to their telecom presentation.
http://www.scribd.com/full/19895388?access_key=key-1jes51b6iqdhex0nakfi
FDI offers a number of products which give access to their VOIP network.
They have a normal VOIP adapters which permit a home user with internet access to connect phones to their network directly through their internet connection.
Their premium home VOIP product, the Tri-Net is kind of a PBX system in a box. Like a normal VOIP adapter, you connect the box to a home internet connection and the box gives phones access to FDI/GI Connect's network. The Tri-Net has many features and capabilities to permit the user to set up extensions, block numbers and a whole range of PBX like features. It is geared towards small business users and can be very effective in that role. The Tri-Net also accepts a SIM card (not required) which permits the device to act as a mobile device as well. The benefit behind this is that for cell phone users who want to keep their existing phones and carriers but want to benefit from VOIP pricing, the mobile number for the Tri-Net's SIM card can be added to your "Friends and Family" or "Inner Circle" block of numbers, making the call free from your cell phone. Then, once connected to the Tri-Net and therefore the GI Connect network, you may dial any number and take advantage of VOIP rates. It adds one more step to the process but is a means of providing VOIP service to mobile users without forcing them to change their equipment. They could, of course, lower their plans minutes to reduce their mobile expense.
FDI/GI Connect also offers a device called a Widget which can plug into the line of any phone and automatically connect that phone into the GI Connect network accessing VOIP rates and incurring only a local call on the phone.
Another device offered is a USB phone which works in conjunction with a soft-phone installed on a laptop.
On the mobile side, FDI/GI Connect offers two phones currently.
One phone is called the GI Cell ( I haven't been able to determine the manufacturer but it is obviously made in China). This phone is a Tri-mode phone meaning it can make calls via GSM (normal cell), GPRS (cell provider data network) or WiFi network. I can't say I'm thrilled with the format of the phone. Let's just say it won't induce anyone to give up their smartphone. I received the phone about a month ago and have had no difficulty in making calls on the phone via GSM or WiFi. However, to date, I have not been able to connect to a GPRS network. That's probably the biggest catch with the phone, in order to use the phone in anything other than a WiFi hotspot, you must get a SIM card from a carrier (AT&T and TMobile are the two GSM carriers supported). I am told that TMobile is easier to configure and I believe that (I borrowed a TMobile Sim card at one point and got closer to connecting to their GPRS network than I ever have with AT&T). After a full month of trying, I still have never succeeded in connecting the phone to AT&T's GPRS network. This exposes what I think is the biggest hole in FDI/GI Connects strategy with this phone. The fact that I must get a SIM card from a third party introduces unneeded complexity and opens the door for finger pointing between the SIM provider and FDI/GI Connect. I have to say that AT&T has been very good about trying to help me connect this phone to their network. However, the phone is obscure enough that its identifying IMEI number is not even known on their system. I have received attempts at assistance from a number of FDI reps and they have done their best but are not qualified to diagnose technical issues. I find it disappointing that my calls to the support lines for GI Connect go unanswered and unreturned. This makes me very worried about selling this phone to customers. If there is no tech support, that means by default they would come to me and I obviously haven't been trained well enough to troubleshoot problems with these phones. An interesting side note about this phone is that the charger that it ships with is fitted with a plug for European power outlets. Not a positive. All in all a very frustrating experience.
The second mobile option provided is essentially just a smartphone from HTC. This phone does have videophone capabilities, however you must still get your SIM card and service from AT&T, TMobile, etc. So, the only way to make use of VOIP with this phone is to use it in conjunction with the Tri-Net as described earlier or to use one of FDI/GI Connect's access numbers to dial into their system and then dial the number you would like to call.
In short, I think FDI/GI Connect has put together some interesting technologies for telecom but I fear that it may be too complicated for many customers to deal with.
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