Want more website traffic? Of course we do and we both know search engines play a major role. And, search engines like to see “inbound” links. In fact, how many sites link to yours is one of the most important measures for search engine optimization (SEO). Why?

When other respected websites (higher page rank) link to your site it suggests authority and trustworthiness. One way to get inbound links from “authoritative” websites is to list your site in well known directories such as DMOZ, Yahoo!, Bing and Google. Best of all you can do this for free. Well, almost free – your time is worth something but it really doesn’t take too much time to get listed.

1. DMOZ – Known as the Open Directory Project, DMOZ is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.
2. Yahoo! Directory - The Yahoo! Search index, which contains several billion web pages, is more than 99% populated through the free crawl process. Yahoo! also offers several ways for content providers to submit web pages and content directly to the Yahoo! Search index and the Yahoo! Directory.
3. Bing Local Listing – What’s a Bing Local listing? Bing Local lets users find businesses near them, or near where they are going. Listings are included in search results so make sure your company is listed in the directory. It is like free advertising – the search engine helps your customers find you.
4. Google Local Business Center – Google provides detailed step-by-step instructions for how to add your business information to the Local Business Center.

Do you have your own favorite search engine optimization strategies  to share? Let us know by leaving a comment with your suggestions – thanks.

Greg Magnus
AIM Custom Media

Richmond SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” and the Richmond Retail Merchants Association are partnering to offer four practical and bottom line mini workshops for the first half of 2010. Don’t miss this great opportunity to hear four of Richmond’s top subject matter experts for the lowest price ever! These workshops are PACKED with useful tips that you can deploy IMMEDIATELY to build profits and position your company for the coming recovery. Get the jump on your competitors!

Workshops will be held at the RMA, 5101 Monument Ave., Richmond, VA. To register, call Sandra Crone at the Richmond SCORE office – Tuesdays and Thursdays 804-771-2400 ext. 131, other days leave a message and Sandra will return the call or by email: information@richmondscore.org.

We are involved with the MARCH 2, 2010 Mini Workshop. Here’s the info from SCORE and RMA:

Social Media – Business Marketing Essentials

• Essential Steps for Effective Social Media Marketing
• Learn how to leverage social media to grow your business
• Planning: the essential components of a social media marketing plan
• How to create a meaningful presence and join the conversation
• Tactics for establishing networks, pinpointing communities and engaging target markets
• Top social media sites, niche sites and the tools of the trade
• Maximizing your ROI

Presenter, Greg Magnus is a seasoned publishing entrepreneur, business consultant, and marketing strategist. As president of AIM Custom Media he is charged with helping clients develop results driven marketing campaigns as well as master social media and modern technology to achieve greater business success. During his career, he has served a long list of small and mid-sized businesses as well as Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Magnus is a Richmond SCORE Counselor and blogger for SCORE’s National Ask an Expert blog. He is also a national board member of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America and the secretary of the MBCA Educational
Foundation.

The processes are confusing and complicated. The results are frustrating and it all seems like a colossal waste of time. If that’s you, let’s first dispel some of the myths of social media.

One: Social Media is Free

Yes, for next to nothing you can quickly create a presence on the top three social media sites – Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. And, you can create accounts on other sites such as Blogger, WordPress, YouTube, Flickr, StumpleUpon and Digg; all within a few hours. That too is almost free but incorporating the plethora of tools into a business marketing system that produces real results requires time, marketing savvy and money. Social media marketing is far from free.

Two: Social media profiles are just brief bios or short descriptions of your company

You don’t need to spend a lot of time creating your social media profiles or bios; right? Unfortunately, that’s far from the case. Those that understand the strategy and importance of social media profiles are obtaining far better results than those that don’t. Profiles are very important and very effective when they include a theme that matches your online business goals and objectives.

Three: Anyone can do it and you can do it in-house.

Ask yourself, do you have the experience? Are you using the most appropriate strategies and the right tools? Fact is, few businesses have in-house teams with the experience needed to launch an effective social media marketing campaign. And, many lack the resolve to allocate the necessary resources required to obtain meaningful results.

What do you need? First and foremost, a concise written strategy as well as numerous technical tools, a contact list manager, copy writer, graphic artists and, most importantly, knowledge and experience.

Social media marketing is a fundamental shift in the way individuals network, organize information and communicate. In essence, it is the child born from the evolution of technology during the past two decades. Today, businesses are leveraging technology in more ways than you can possibly imagine.

Each business has unique goals and objectives. Therefore, establishing a social media marketing budget depends on your industry, your competition and your expectations. But, creating a budget is similar to any other project. Here are four quick steps to get your started:

What “projects” and “resources” are required?

1. Social Media Strategy and Theme – generally developed by the business management team (or owner) with the marketing/communications manager. If you don’t have a full-time marketing manager, consider outsourcing this important starting point to an experienced marketing firm.
2. Tools – select the sites and tools you’ll focus on for your campaign. And, stay focused. The most appropriate sites are not necessarily the top three. Research the sites visited most frequently by your target market just like you would with any other marketing campaign. Stick with your plan long enough to collect meaning data to determine the effectiveness of the campaign.
3. Integration – plan out specifically how you intend to use other forms of advertising – such as marketing brochures, trade shows, local events, print ads, etc. Are you driving traffic to social media sites and capturing leads to build your contact list? Are you sponsoring an event supported by an email marketing campaign? For example, are you posting photos and copies of presentations you gave on your blog following an event? There are costs associated with this aspect of the project such as contact management software, email marketing software, blog maintenance, etc.
4. Define success – almost everything online can be measured. However, the more you intend to measure the more money you’ll spend collecting and analyzing data. It is very important to understand some of the costs are “branding” costs and some are “operational” costs (IT support). Understand the different aspects of your marketing campaign and appropriate the resources as well as the expenses accordingly.

Next week we’ll go into more detail on planning and budgeting for social media marketing. You can subscribe to our site here; it allows you to receive the updates when they are published. Also, please leave a comment below if you have specific questions about social media. Or, tell us what lessons you learned last year about social media marketing?

Richmond, VA – The Richmond Ad Club announced today that it has selected Capital Child Care, a regional child-welfare organization, as its 2008 Pro Bono client. The Ad Club – which represents more than 40 ad agencies, production houses, printers, Web designers and others – will donate its creative talents and services to developing an array of branding identity and marketing materials for the nonprofit organization.

The Richmond Ad Club chose Capital Child Care because of its extremely limited budget and far-reaching mission to improve the lives of those it serves: children from low-income housing areas of Richmond and Henrico and Chesterfield counties.

“Every year, we handpick a nonprofit client to work with as part of our mission of community service,” said Sharif Ewees, president of the Richmond Ad Club. “Narrowing the many applications we receive to just one recipient is never easy, but Capital Child Care is certainly deserving of these services and stands out because of its wonderful community-driven purpose and ideals that all children should be given a chance, no matter their background.”

More than just a typical day care center, Capital Child Care serves 45 children ranging in age from 10 months to 11 years old. Through partnership and extensive resource gathering, elements of the center’s comprehensive approach to improving the lives of needy children include academic, social, emotional and nutritional outreach, along with counseling and speech-therapy services.

“Improving these lives takes time, hard work, and an unwavering dedication to doing everything it takes to make a difference in the lives of children and their families,” said Phyllis Bradley, executive director of Capital Child Care. “With all the money we raise, we give most everything to the children – which means limited resources for salaries, facilities and marketing. Therefore, we are extremely thankful to the Richmond Ad Club for their volunteer efforts.”

About the Richmond Ad Club: Founded in 1960, the Richmond Ad Club is a dynamic organization of advertising professionals serving the Richmond, Virginia advertising community. The Ad Club is dedicated to the betterment of the advertising industry in its area and throughout the Southeast. Its mission: “To unite our ad community through service endeavors, education and the celebration of creativity.”.

About Capital Child Care: Since its beginnings in 1994, Capital Child Care has served 1,378 children and more than 500 families in the greater Richmond area. Its mission has been to help “at risk” youth – many of whom are infants and toddlers – from low-income neighborhoods in the greater Richmond area. In addition to its comprehensive day-care program, the 501(c)(3) organization located at 1704 W. Laburnum Avenue offers a safe, healthy, stable environment where children can become fully developed, thriving members of their schools, their families, and their communities.