Whether you are looking to get a story in the news or boost sales, here are a few tips to help you get things going:

1. Find Your Unique Benefits.

What do you have to offer that no one else does? If you haven’t reviewed your products and services lately, it’s time to figure out why you are unique.

Why would new customers, potential partners or media-members, be interested in what you have to sell?

2. Make a List. Check it Twice.

Who are your dream customers? What media venues are most important to you and your business?

Make a list of all the potential customers, partners and media-members you want to pursue. Research each one and find out what they are looking for. Then, make a plan of how you will approach each with a specific pitch.

3. Take Action!

Nothing is going to happen unless you follow up and actually do something. Pick up the phone, go to an event, knock on some doors, and make your move. If you don’t reach out to the people you want to work with, your chances of working with them are zero!

It may be a little scary at first, but you don’t have anything to lose and a lot to gain.

It’s Up to You.

If you want to make fresh, new things happen for your business in the months ahead, now is the time to take action.

Figure out your unique selling points and how you provide value. Then, create lists of all the people you want to work with, research these individuals and make contact.

By taking action, you’ll make new relationships with people who can help your business grow awareness and sales.

But no one is going to do it for you… so what are you waiting for? It’s time for fresh, new beginnings!

For more help with your PR and SEO strategy, please write to me below, or contact me at www.rembrandtwrites.com for more information.

Happy early summer to you wherever you are.  Here in Charlotte, we celebrate 5 seasons: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Pollen.  I am very happy that Pollen season is over because it was a bad one this year.  This is no lie - there has been more pollen on my car and back deck than snow for 2 years straight. My car looked ridiculous -  it was like a bucket of Peeps had exploded all over my windshield.  So I would get in my car and turn on the wipers and that didn’t clear it off, so I would hit it with wiper fluid and now there was this wet yellow mess all over my car. Fortunately, after I drove somewhere for a very important meeting in my Sunday best and opened the door to get out, most of the time wet yellow glop splattered down onto my shirt and pants so when I walked into the meeting I looked like I just finished making out with Big Bird. May as well stay home and play video games.

Speaking of video games, Microsoft has finally announced the arrival of its’ newest gaming system, the XBOX One. They’ve made a ton of hardware upgrades to it, have added a more sophisticated kinect system, and designed new controllers. It looks like it’s going to be pretty sweet (that’s a term I use with the kids these days so I still seem cool).

In fact, the XBOX One is so different that no current Xbox system games or peripherals will be compatible with it. Yep, the 360 and Kinect games you have will not work on the One.  Neither will your controller.  See what XBOX did there? They just pulled an “Apple iPhone 5 needs an adapter to charge on current Apple peripherals and so Apple sells 15 million adapters for $15 each” new revenue stream on you.  Luckily for you, Microsoft plans to support the 360 and Kinect for a while and even introduce new games on them.  But still - C’MON, MAN!!

Heres’ the fun part if you resell used video games. I’m talking to the small sellers, large retailers, and specialty shops like Gamestop here that share in the $4 billion in annual used game sales: Microsoft wants a big piece of that market.

You see, Microsoft and the other publishers and game makers don’t see a dime of secondhand sales of their products.  Personally, I would be just fine making a gazillion dollars a year creating and distributing games, but we’re talking about large publicly traded corporations and they do one thing - make money.  So Microsoft has figured out how to poop in your sandbox.

How?

Wellll, Microsoft is being a little shifty about this at the moment. We are all hoping that they are going to clear the air about The Plan in the next few weeks at E3, the giant annual video game conference that I have attended several times. It looks like it’s going to work like so:

1.  You’ll buy the game from a retailer. When you install it on the XBOX One, it will copy the game to the hard drive of the One and lock it in to the gamer profile of the person who installed it. It must be activated.  This will make the disc itself useless and unnecessary.  The only person who can play the game is the gamer it belongs to.  No more lending or borrowing games to others.

2.  It gets unclear after that, but retailers are being told that customers can still trade in games, but now they must unregister the game from Microsoft (which wipes it off the original owner’s hard drive) and then pay a hefty fee to Microsoft to reactivate it again. The rumor is that the fee is large enough that the retailer will have to resell used games for north of $50.00 to make any profit at all.

So the overall implications are that a) used game prices are going to go up - way up  b) buying and reselling XBOX One is going to be a giant, expensive pain in the rump, and c) looks like all those people not paying for games are going to have to pay to play - this will do a number on piracy.

I sold DVD’s, CD’s, and Video Games for almost 10 years.  That entire time I knew that the physical media was going to wither and die. I watched it happen firsthand with CD’s.  Let’s all be logical here - what is the point of making a physical disc, and putting that disc in a case, and then in a box with a manual, and then putting it on a truck and displayed in a store for you to buy when you can just download it? We are perfecting the delivery vehicles - iTunes, Xbox, Netflix, Amazon, cable - The need for physical items is literally ZERO now.  So if you didn’t see this giant iceberg coming then I don’t know what to tell you, brother.

It’s not the end of used video game selling, but it is absolutely the beginning of the end.  As I used to joke with my fellow large DVD seller friends, “Why oh why didn’t we just buy a Dunkin Donuts franchise?”

Best,

Kevin Harmon

kevin@redshortsmedia.com

Kevin on Twitter

Kevin on Facebook:

Kevin on Linkedin:

I love to blog and work with social media.  Let me know if I can help you!

]]> http://www.startupnation.com/business-blogs/index.php/2013/06/03/hey-used-video-game-sellers-the-xbox-one-just-pooped-in-your-sandbox/feed/ http://www.startupnation.com/business-blogs/index.php/2013/05/30/seo-content/ http://www.startupnation.com/business-blogs/index.php/2013/05/30/seo-content/#comments Thu, 30 May 2013 13:53:25 +0000 Melanie Rembrandtmrembrandt http://www.startupnation.com/business-blogs/?p=5217 Are You a Trained, SEO Copywriter?
If not, please stop writing your company’s content!

If you are writing your own copy for all of your marketing needs, but you are not a trained, SEO (search engine optimization) copywriter, stop! You may think you are saving time and money, but you are actually losing out on dramatically increased sales and online awareness.

Most people think they can write their own content for their marketing and Website needs. I mean how hard can it be? You wrote all of your papers in school and you know your company better than anyone else. Plus, it can be fun to write advertising and see your work in print.

But let’s get real folks.

You wouldn’t do your own dental work, medical treatments, electrical work, etc. just because you thought you could save a few bucks in the process. The same goes for writing SEO copy. Leave it up to the professionals. The job will be done correctly, and you’ll experience much better results.

Why Spend the Money on an SEO Copywriter?

•    SEO is about much more than adding keywords to your copy.

The search engines are looking for value and so are your customers. When you just write copy with keywords, you are not providing value to anyone. The same goes for purchasing one of those SEO services that will automatically optimize your copy. It doesn’t work as well as someone who is specifically writing for your customers.

•    SEO copywriting is about writing copy that sells.

Yes, your copy needs to provide value, but at the same time it needs to make your products and services shine, increase credibility and make people want to tell their friends about it. To do this, there is a certain way to write marketing copy, and only trained and experienced SEO copywriters know how to do this.

•    SEO copywriting involves research, testing and regular updates.

A good, SEO copywriter/strategist will research and create an extensive list of top keywords for you. Then, that person will craft appropriate copy specifically for what you’re trying to accomplish, and test and monitor it. He or she will then make appropriate changes so that your copy gets the best results possible.

Do You Really Have Time For All This?

Yes, good SEO copywriters/strategists can be expensive. But, if they are good, they will provide results that will exceed the expense. Plus, you can focus on your core responsibilities rather than developing marketing copy.

Isn’t it time you stepped away from the keyboard and had a professional take over?

After all, your competitors are probably using experienced SEO copywriters right now and showing up at the top of the search engines. The longer you keep doing your own SEO copywriting, the more new sales you’re losing!

For additional, SEO copywriting tips to boost sales on your site, please contact me below or write to me at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Does this sound familiar when it comes to your SEO, or search engine optimization, efforts?

• You added a bunch of keywords to your site but haven’t seen an increase in site rankings.
• You paid a big, SEO company to help you, but you are still waiting for results.
• You have no idea what SEO is and are just ignoring it!

If any of these sound familiar, it’s time to review your SEO activities and concentrate on what is most important. After all, SEO can significantly increase sales if done correctly.

Important SEO activities include the following:

• Conduct extensive research to find the appropriate keywords for your business.
• Add different title tags and descriptions to each page of your site.
• Use your keywords in titles, subheads, links and appropriate places throughout your site.
• Create a process for obtaining back-links to your site.
• Measure the results and make appropriate changes for the best results.

And while these are all essential to SEO, you may be focusing on the “technology” rather than this one, key factor that can make or break your search-ranking results:

Provide Valuable Copy!

Today, the search engines look for sites that provide valuable information to their customers. They don’t want to see repetitive keywords and sales language. They want to see Websites that offer information customers want to tell their friends about.

With this in mind, your SEO activities should start with an editorial calendar. Write down exactly what kind of information you want to share with your customers and when. Then, write the copy, insert the appropriate keywords and add the back-end tagging. You’ll also want to create appropriate Web pages for each product or service and guide site-visitors through the purchasing process.

But that at this point, know that your SEO processes have just begun.

Now, you need to monitor clicks and interest in the new content. If your customers are clicking on the internal links, purchasing products and services and sharing the information via social media, you know your copy is working.

However, if you don’t see an interest in your new copy, change it or add content focusing on a different topic right away. If you have no idea what to write about, check your social-media venues to see what your customers are talking about and look at what your competition is doing. You can also add a quick survey to your site and actually ask customers what they want to see on your site!

SEO Should Increase Site Rankings and Save You Money

The great thing about SEO copywriting is that you can monitor your site analytics and clicks, and see exactly what your customers and site visitors are most interested in reading. And if some copy is not working, you can change it immediately. This way, you are always giving your customers what they want and providing value. (Note: If you are working with an SEO company that does not provide this information, you are missing out on some important opportunities to exceed customer needs!)

SEO Is Not About Technology.

It can be so easy to hire an SEO service to automatically optimize your copy as you write it. But that won’t help you increase sales and site rankings as much as possible. Instead, focus on the value you are providing your customers via your copy and monitor the results.

This way, you’ll get to know your customers and be able to give them what they want. And this will not only help you beat the competition, but the search engines will also notice the value, and your site rankings will skyrocket!

To find out more about SEO copywriting and how it can significantly increase sales, please write to us belo or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com for more information.

It’s Time For Website Spring Cleaning!

Now is the perfect time to give your Website a fresh, new look and do some spring-cleaning. But don’t worry! It doesn’t need to take a lot of time or money, Here are…

3 Tips to Freshen Up Your Site Fast!

1. Fix errors.

Yes, this may seem blatant, but you really need to review your Website for bad links, grammatical errors, misspellings, and old content.

Believe me, new site visitors will find even the smallest errors, and that could mean the difference between a new sale and a lost customer to the competition!

2. Add new copy.

If you haven’t updated your Website with a new blog entry, article, white paper, or other content for over a week, it’s time to add fresh and valuable information your customers will want to read.

And if you can optimize it for the search engines, even better!

3. Be newsworthy.

When was the last time you posted a press release or were mentioned in a local newspaper? If it has been more than a month, get to work!

Create a newsworthy event, write an SEO press release and let the media know you have news!

Freshen Up Your Site and See Results!

By taking a few, simple actions today, you can significantly increase online awareness, build credibility with new site visitors and get the media talking about you. And with these potential results, this is some Spring cleaning you’ll want to start right away!

For more information to increase site traffic and sales, write to Melanie below or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

I get many referrals from business owners who spent a fortune on a top, PR firm or search engine optimization, SEO, services without seeing any results. They spent a lot of money purchasing “well known” services, and now they are weary of hiring another professional to help them.

Don’t Let This Happen To You!

Just because you hire a “top name” in PR or SEO services does not mean you will get results. But if you are an entrepreneur, you just don’t have time to babysit the consultants that you hire. With this in mind, here are….

3 Questions to Discover if You Are Getting Ripped Off with SEO and PR Services

1. Are you seeing results?

Is your PR and SEO consultant or services communicating with you on a regular basis? You should get a monthly report to see what is going on with your PR and SEO activities. If not, ask for one!

2. Have you been waiting a long time for things to happen?

Yes, it takes time to prepare a complete, public relations and SEO campaign. However, there are things your SEO and PR people can do right away to start generating online awareness and buzz. If it takes more than a month to see some kind of results, ask for a timeline of activities and why it is taking so long to get some online attention!

3. Are you paying for unknown services?

What exactly are you paying for? While it’s customary for PR agencies to be paid by retainer, make sure you are not paying for a huge mark-up on outside services like press-release-distribution services, SEO advertising, media research, and other services. Also, find out exactly who is working on your account. You may be paying for a big, well-known agency to do your PR, but if you have a new hire or intern working on your account, you are paying too much!

Get the Right Help.

Good publicists and SEO strategists often charge high rates for their services, but if they know what they’re doing, it’s well worth the money. After all, one, well-placed article can mean thousands in new sales, and one SEO press-release can introduce you to a worldwide audience of new customers. However, there are many people out there giving PR and SEO professionals a bad name.

With this in mind, review your current PR and SEO activities and know what is going on. If you aren’t seeing results, it’s time to ask questions and get answers. And if you have been ripped off by a PR or SEO service, please do not disregard these services for the future. Instead, conduct more due diligence and find new professionals who can actually help you meet your business goals. (Perhaps, you can ask them to start with a test project to reduce your risk and see how your working relationship develops.)

After all, if your competition is using public relations and SEO, and you aren’t, you could risk losing sales and valuable, new customers.

For more PR and SEO tips and information, please write to use below or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

By Melanie Rembrandt

Are people saying bad things about your small business online? Do negative comments appear at the top of the search engines when you do a search for your business name?

Well, instead of sitting back and watching your sales and credibility decline, take action!

Small Business Public Relations and SEO to the Rescue!

If you want to increase the number of positive mentions that appear at the top of the search engines when potential customers search for information about your business, it’s time to implement a PR and SEO strategy. Here are three things you can do right now to help your online reputation:

1. Post an SEO Press Release.

Write a press release about something newsworthy at your business. Ensure that it provides valuable information, is written in the appropriate AP Style, and potential customers will want to read it. Then, make sure it is optimized for the search engines with the appropriate keywords and links. If you don’t know how to do this, it is well worth it to hire an SEO copywriter to do it for you. Then, post the press release on free sites and use a low-cost distribution service, if possible.

2. Write an SEO Blog.

Post some new and valuable information on your site for your customers. Share some industry insights or expert tips. Write a blog that’s at least 350 words and then optimize it for the search engines. Then, post it on an industry site or your site.

3. Write an Optimized Article or Tip Sheet.

Create a Tip Sheet, eBook or ePamphlet that provides valuable information and is user-friendly. Again, ensure that it is optimized for the search engines, and post it online. Perhaps, you can give it away as a free gift when people register for your newsletter?

Repeat the Process.

Once you start posting and promoting valuable information online that has the correct SEO, you will start to see negative comments about your business move down on search-engine listings. If done correctly, they will be replaced with more positive information that you have some control over.

And for the best ROI, I highly recommend you work with an experienced SEO strategist/publicist. This way, you’ll see better results faster, and you can concentrate on your core, business activities.

Are you ready to improve your online reputation with SEO and PR? Get more information at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Here are three, key questions to ask yourself to help stay on track with your business goals.

1. What is your Website saying?

When people visit your Website, what message do they receive?

If there are broken links, old blog entries and boring content, you will lose potential, new customers fast. These things may be on the bottom of your “to do” list, but it’s important to move them up as a priority. After all, you may be losing thousands of dollars in sales from one, faulty link!

2. Do you need to return messages?

Do you have a bunch of e-mail and voicemail messages to return?

When you get busy, it can be easy to push responses aside and forget about them. But this is not good business etiquette. Return your messages within 24 hours at the most. This way, you can get them off of your list and move on to other tasks.

If you ignore your inbox, you may be missing out on potential business, press opportunities and more. And if you don’t have the courtesy to provide responses, you are creating a bad impression that can reduce your industry reputation, customer satisfaction and overall sales in the future.

3. What is the status of current projects?

While keeping track of your Website content and returning messages is important, don’t forget about in-person interactions. While it may be easier to text a quick message, nothing beats talking to a team member face-to-face. This way, you can check the status of current projects, provide input, answer questions, and ensure things are going smoothly.

And if you are worried about your communication skills or wasting time in a meeting, just set aside a few minutes to touch base with someone on a particular project. Then, use this time to ask questions, and let the other person do the talking. Over time, you’ll get better at keeping your interactions succinct but meaningful.

Relationships are Important.

Business moves fast, but that’s no reason to minimize your communication efforts. Check your Website and provide the most valuable information you can to site visitors. Review your inbox and provide responses to people who are waiting to hear from you. And finally, don’t forget to get out of your office and talk to your team members. This way, you’ll create valuable relationships with all of the people you work with while building credibility that can help increase online awareness and sales.

Are you taking advantage of all the communication opportunities possible to build sales, awareness and credibility? For more information on SEO and PR activities, please write to me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

You can use the latest online media lists, high-tech distribution services and e-mail marketing tools, but if you really want to build buzz without spending a lot of money, take advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) in your press releases. Why?

Here are 3 Reasons to Distribute an SEO Press Release

1.    Significantly Increase Awareness.

If you are already distributing traditional press releases, why not add one, simple step to help media members and your target market find you online? By adding the appropriate keywords and links in the right place on your release, you can jump to the top of the search engines the day your news is distributed and reach more, new customers.

2.    Save Money.

Big, press-release distributions with a wire service can be expensive. By optimizing your press release for the search engines, you can post the release on targeted sites yourself and build buzz without spending a dime.

There are also inexpensive, online press-release-distribution-services that focus on sending SEO press releases to the press. Media members look for specific words in online press-releases depending on their news beat, but if your press release isn’t optimized, your business may not appear in their search results.

3.    Prove and Improve Results.

By monitoring the links in your SEO press release and your site analytics, you can see how many people responded to your press release and the keywords that they used. If you receive a high level of new site visitors and clicks on your landing page, you know your press release is working. Plus, you have actual statistics to share with your leadership team. If the response levels are low, you’ll have a better understanding of what to change and improve upon in your next release.

Good PR today involves traditional activities and new technology.

Traditional public-relations activities are very important to establishing major, media interviews. However, you’ll also want to create an SEO press release to accompany these efforts. Then, you can reach a larger portion of your target market cost-effectively and receive specific analytics to see what’s working and what isn’t. More important, you can build online awareness that beats the competition and increases sales dramatically.

For more information about SEO press releases, please write to me below or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Find out!

When new people visit your Website, what’s the first thing they see and click on? If you don’t know, it’s time to find out.

Check your Google Analytics and see what is going on. This is important. Why? While you may think you have a great Website packed with information for your customers and just the right search engine optimization (SEO) keywords, new site visitors may think otherwise. Take a look your Website pages to see where visitors spend the most time. If your top pages are not pulling in traffic, you have some work to do.

Here are a few suggestions…

· What do your customers want?

Which pages do your site visitors click on most? Why do you think that is? This information can tell you a lot about what your customers are looking for and whether or not you provide it.

If you have no idea why your customers are looking at some pages more than others, ask them. Run a quick survey on your site to see what kind of information they are most interested in viewing. If you don’t want to run a survey, start adding SEO content based on the topics posted on your most popular pages. Then, review the results.

· Is your site just about you?

You may think your Website is fantastic – because it talks about how great your products and services are, your background and expertise and your media clips. But what’s in it for your customers? If you are focusing on features rather than the benefits you offer, you are going to lose business to the competition.

Review each page of your site and change the SEO copy so you are focusing on how your products and services help customers solve their problems.

· What SEO keywords are you using?

While it’s important to conduct extensive research to discover what keywords your targeted audience is actually looking for, don’t forget common-sense terms. If you were a customer, what terms would you type into the search engines to find your products and services?

While SEO keyword research is essential, don’t forget to think about the key terms that are simple and come to mind first.

Stop and Look at Your SEO Copy.

As I tell my clients, SEO copywriting is an ongoing process. If you want to build online awareness and bring in sales, take the time to review your site analytics and conduct SEO keyword research. Then, it’s essential to write copy that provides valuable information to potential customers while including the right SEO keywords, placement and coding. And once your Website is up and running, your SEO processes need to be monitored regularly. This way, you can make changes to bring in better results.

SEO is a powerful tool to increase sales cost-effectively. But if you don’t use it the right way, you’ll waste valuable resources while the competition steals your customers!

What is happening with your SEO right now? If you don’t know, please contact me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.