I won’t give the same old advice about not visiting Starbucks every day. Instead, I’m sharing seven steps I personally used to save money as I moved into the role of entrepreneur.

As a home based business owner, you’ve already got a head start since you won’t be paying rent. Other ways you can save: [click to continue…]

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When you first start out building your small business blog, you may not know the ins and outs. This article walks you through the steps.

  1. Figure Out Your Goals: Will you use your blog to obtain clients, sell a product, offer a class, create community, or for something else? Consider what you want to accomplish before you do anything else. Once you have your plain laid out, then the decisions that follow will be a bit easier to make.
  2. Use a Branded Domain: Many online marketing training programs will tell you to purchase a keyword-laden URL (website address). If they tell you to do this so you will rank higher in search engines, they are correct. I’ve tested it. If I buy purpleshoes.com, then I can often quickly rank well for the phrase “purple shoes.” Decide if you prefer to rank quickly (which Google could change at some point) or if you want to have a strong brand for your company. If you want to establish a brand for your name or your small business, be sure to select your own unique domain and purchase it. Avoid trademarked names or you may be forced to change it later. One of my favorite domain names (not mine) is crazymikesapps.com. A domain name only costs $10-12 per year and is a low-cost investment in your business future.
  3. Use Your Own Web Host: Select a good web host from the start. How do you know if a web host is any good? Get recommendations from web-savvy friends. I use Host Gator and like DreamHost (affiliate links) a lot. These two hosts have offered me good customer support, few problems, and easy-to-use website management tools that allowed me to install WordPress with a few clicks.
  4. Understand Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics: Before you get too deep into blogging for your small business, be sure you understand basic keyword research, on-page SEO factors, and how to build links.
  5. Enter the Wild Word of Plugins: If you use WordPress, you can find free or low-cost plugins (software) that add functionality to your website. A few of my favorite plugins include: Editorial Calendar (tracks my posts in a calendar) and Akizmet (blocks comment spam).

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21 Twitter Chat Tips

November 21, 2010

Are you curious about how to host a Twitter chat? Wonder no longer. This is what you need to know. Decide upon your goals to measure success. Find a hashtag you like. Sign up for a Twitter account with your new hashtag as the user name/handle. Sign up for a Wthashtag.com account to “claim” your [...]

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-11-19

November 19, 2010

RT @chiefhotmomma: SEO tips from @clickwisdom via @shonali http://ad.vu/5s5h # The ClickWisdom Times is out! http://bit.ly/dkrMGp ? Top stories today by @CJethmalani @AnitaNelson @marylove99 @faydra_deon # Join #SmallBizChat on 12/1/10 w/ @KingleyMaunder on How to Monetize Your Blog #smallbizchat RT @smallbizlady # RT @aeb_it @rajmalikdc @shashib Attn DC area smallbiz #growsmartbiz 11/19 tweet-up @ Indique [...]

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Twitter Chat How To

November 17, 2010

I have Shonali Burke to thank for introducing me to Twitter chats. She asked me to participate in a Women Grow Business Twitter chat about search engine optimization. Little did she know she’d turn me into a chat addict. Since I was the featured guest at my first-ever chat, I used Tweet deck to do [...]

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With Social Media, Customer Service is the New Marketing

November 16, 2010

“Offer great customer service, because it will make you more money.” — Barry Moltz Barry Moltz, author of BAM! Bust A Myth! Delivering Customer Service In a Self Service World, began the GrowSmartBiz Conference marketing track by speaking about “How Social Media has Made Customer Service the New Marketing—Deliver or Die.” What other people say [...]

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How to Customize Your Thesis 404 Error Page

November 15, 2010

The cobbler’s children have no shoes, and my WordPress blog had no custom 404 error page until this week. Even though I knew an error page equals a better experience for you, my dear readers, I still did not have one. I do now. And I thought I’d show you how I customized the error [...]

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SEO Link Building Strategies 101

November 12, 2010

Plan your link building strategy, and you will probably be a step ahead of your competition. Link building can be a time-consuming effort that takes time to show results. However, carefully building your links can attract your target customer to your site. Below, I’m sharing link building tips to help you get noticed by both [...]

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How to Get More Followers on Twitter

November 12, 2010

Have you been wondering how to get more followers on Twitter? At least one person has said the number of followers doesn’t matter. What matters, they say, is quality. When I joined Twitter in 2007, I only used it a little bit. Over the years, I’ve used it more to follow conferences, share information, meet [...]

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Twitter Updates for 2010-11-11

November 11, 2010

Why #smallbiz need to innovate from @jasonfalls @firebelly @jer979 http://ow.ly/37P6j #entrepchat #growsmartbiz #socialmedia # RT @tinu @marketingfltr Why Cust Serv is the New Marketing http://goo.gl/X4SvJ by @dariasteigman #Growsmartbiz recap of @barrymoltz # One asks the ROI of #socmed ? What is the ROI of staying in biz? #socialmedia #entrepchat # RT @hfazlani @Austin_Curtis: Wldn't u [...]

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Small Business Innovation: Social Media, Etc

November 10, 2010

At the recent GrowSmartBiz Conference in Washington, DC, I attended “What’s the Buzz?:” with Steve King, Jason Falls (SocialMediaExplorer), Jeremy Epstein (six components of creating a “Dandelion Marketing Culture), Duncan Alney (Firebelly Marketing), and Prabakaran Murugaiah, (QFetch, LLC). What follows are notes I took during the presentation. Jeremy Epstein, Dandelion Marketing We’re all marketers. Some [...]

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Ramon Ray Recap from the Grow Smart Business Conference

November 10, 2010

6 Rules for Tech Success Ramon Ray spoke in the late afternoon at Grow Smart Business Conference, which was sponsored by Network Solutions and the Washington Business Journal. Despite the late hour, his presentation style—he talks fast and loud—energized the audience. I tweeted him that his talk was like an injection of caffeine in my [...]

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Twitter Updates for 2010-11-10

November 10, 2010

RT @joncamfield: #MHS10 unconference tweetup starting in poster area! # RT @shashib: TBD TV ( news Channel 8 Interview with Shashi Bellamkonda http://me.lt/9P73v #growsmartbiz – How did I do? # RT @downeym: @firstaidcorps I've never been a fan of "we have no choice" or calling anything impossible. #mHS10 # Interior designers: Pls put seating next [...]

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Twitter Updates for 2010-11-10

November 10, 2010

RT @joncamfield: #MHS10 unconference tweetup starting in poster area! # RT @shashib: TBD TV ( news Channel 8 Interview with Shashi Bellamkonda http://me.lt/9P73v #growsmartbiz – How did I do? # RT @downeym: @firstaidcorps I've never been a fan of "we have no choice" or calling anything impossible. #mHS10 # Interior designers: Pls put seating next [...]

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Twitter Updates for 2010-11-09

November 9, 2010

RT @shashib SEO tips at #GRowSmartBiz #SEO Panel @Tinu @clickwisdom @EyeInfo @storyspinner @Skitzzo – http://goo.gl/LI9jS # RT @sisarina Biz/ #socmed book recs incl Tribes, Unmarketing, Groundswell, Delivering Happiness, Linchpin #books # We can not say mhealth has worked. Needs to be scalable. Need proven outcome. #mhs2010 #mhs10 # Build open system. Allow innovation. Deborah Estrin [...]

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SEO Tools and Tips: Grow Smart Business

November 8, 2010

This past Friday, I spoke on a panel about SEO for small business. Ben Cook, SEO Manager from Network Solutions, moderated the panel and kept us on track. During the session, I promised to provide a wrap up and include my favorite SEO tools. These are tools and services I try myself, and I recommend [...]

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Twitter Updates for 2010-11-07

November 7, 2010

RT @shashib: Google Reader : #Growsmartbiz interview with toddler : I uploaded a YouTube video: http://bit.ly/aaoQUT // Love it! # RT @jimkukral: This Sunday You’re Invited to #Blogchat to Talk Monetizing Blogs http://bit.ly/cCmP32 # RT @shashib: @Jillfoster @clickwisdom @WBJonline @chrisheuer #growsmartbiz video will be on @yayastream next week // Very cool. # What's up with [...]

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Twitter Updates for 2010-11-06

November 6, 2010

Looking forward to seeing @jillfoster @creativeblogs @shannonrenee @sisarina @cravedc @kacypaide @anandaleeke on Sun for Entrepre & #socmed # RT @gwickes @CathyWebSavvyPR: Here is today's @growsmartbiz transcript link: http://bit.ly/GrSmBizTranscr #growsmartbiz # RT @keewood: @firebelly: People dont trust companies – they trust people says –jasonfalls #growsmartbiz # Yes! // RT @koa @digitalsista: why is it that the [...]

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Top 7 Reasons to Attend the Grow Smart Business Conference

November 3, 2010

Duncan Alney inspired me to write this post on why I’m attending the Grow Smart Business Conference, which is sponsored by Network Solutions and the Washington Business Journal. Because Shashi Bellamkonda asked me, and Shashi amazes me as a person and in his role as Social Media Swami for Network Solutions. Because I’m speaking about [...]

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Thesis Theme for WordPress Review

November 2, 2010

Until I found the Thesis WordPress Theme, (affiliate link) I hopped around from theme to theme. I was looking for an easy-to-use theme (aka WordPress framework or design) that would not require advanced programming knowledge. What I found in Thesis was better than I could have imagined, because this theme includes SEO-friendly features that I’ve [...]

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How to Rank in Google Part 2

September 15, 2010

This is part two of How to Rank in Google. Writing quality content is one of the most important actions to take in search engine optimization. Clients who come to me with a lot of content ready to place on their site will perform much better than clients without content. The Beauty of Quality Content: [...]

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Traffic Generation: It’s Not All About SEO

July 24, 2010

This is a copy of an article I wrote for the Women Grow Business blog. These days, optimizing a website for search engines involves adjusting your website’s content to get the most out of your links from social media, offline marketing efforts, public relations, or other promotional techniques. When I managed SEO for a media [...]

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Sally Strackbein on Strategic Bragging at the DC Web Women Networking Event

April 22, 2010

At a DC Web Women event, I listened to Sally Strackbeing speak about “strategic bragging.” She said: Stop talking about what you don’t want. Identify what you do want. Start talking about what you DO want. Strackbein then asked everyone to raise their hands and repeat after her: “I will not talk about what I [...]

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Maryland-Based SEO Case Study

April 5, 2010

A professional speaking and training company showed up in the rankings for keyword 1 and keyword 2 at positions 17 and 18. Keyword 3 was at position 23. Speaking bureaus, which take a percentage of speaking fees, contained positions 1 and 2 for keyword 1. Competitors held the top two positions for keywords 2 and [...]

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Integrate Your Marketing Tools for Better Results

March 31, 2010

Sometimes clients will use an email newsletter and no social networking tools, or perhaps they blog and don’t integrate search engine optimization strategies. When this happens, the business misses potentially profitable traffic, new clients, and an increased number of qualified leads. What Can You Do to Improve Results? Although it’s possible to succeed by using [...]

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Ways to Become an SEO Expert

March 31, 2010

Are you curious about how to improve your SEO skills? Are you a small business owner who wants to know a bit more about SEO? Recently, someone emailed me to ask what resources I use and think are best for learning about search engine optimization (SEO). With some of these resources, you may wonder what [...]

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Twitter Updates for 2010-11-02

March 25, 2010

Working on client project and thinking about one next week. Next week, I'll help a visual artist set up and learn to use WordPress as a CMS. # Listened to @shashib talk on social media at Aquilent in Laurel, MD. @dcww event. Great presentation, Shashi! # ISO: Outstanding WordPress designer. DM me with portfolio link [...]

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My 15-Day Facebook Fast: Day Six

January 6, 2010

Catch up on the previous days of my Facebook fast. By day six, I no longer missed Facebook. I chatted with friends on this thing called a telephone. Do you remember those? You punch numbers, let it ring, and someone answers on the other end. It’s delightful. I’ve never been addicted to coffee, but I [...]

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Facebook: 3 and Google: 0

January 6, 2010

According to Hitwise, Facebook was the number one search term for 2009. Google was number six. In 2009, Google received the most traffic for 364 days of the year. Facebook beat them on that other day. In March 2009, ClickZ published an article that stated more downstream traffic was coming from Facebook instead of Google [...]

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My 15-Day Facebook Fast: Day Five

January 5, 2010

Catch up on the previous days of my Facebook fast. In case you haven’t read the previous posts yet, I decided in December to have a Facebook fast from January 1 to January 15. These dates were slightly arbitrary. I prepared before I “left” Facebook in the following ways: 1. I posted a final update [...]

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