Blog

Has your name been "Googled" recently? I bet it has - whether you realize it or not.Now you can control what people see, by setting up your own Google Profile. Like a scaled-down Facebook page, Google's profile gives you a chance to enter some basic information about yourself, add photos, schools you attended and a few other things.

Keywords: google

In November I wrote about my system for getting things done. Now, 6 months later it's time to review successes & failures of the system I talked about. Some of the things I was doing worked very well, and have become a permanent part of my organization system. Other parts haven't worked as well as I'd hoped. Let me review both.

Keywords: getting things done, gmail, google apps, gtd, jott, remember the milk

Our new postcard hit mailboxes this week - discussing how we can help businesses generate businesses in the recession without spending a fortune on advertising. The postcard is below. We also invited recipients to watch our free video on recession marketing strategies, available here.

Keywords: advertising, recession, spire promotions, video

Question: "So what is twitter, I signed up tonight, is it just a spin off of myspace and facebook but with a business twist?"

Keywords: mary kay, online marketing, twitter

In a recession, consumers are less impulsive, so your business needs to find new ways to reach your customers. AdWords offers a simple way to do so that won't empty your wallet.

Keywords: advertising, adwords, budget, google, internet, marketing, ppc, promotion, recession

Bottom line, if you are paying one or more monthly fees to have a listing on somebody else's website, please consider the three powerful alternatives explained here.

Keywords: advertising, adwords, online marketing, pay per click, ppc, search engine optimization

If you do pay-per-click campaigns, you probably know that one best practice is to add brackets and quotes to your keyword list - which makes them a phrase match or exact match. It's simple, but repetitive and time-consuming to do that by hand -- especially if you have hundreds of keywords for each ad group as I do. Here's a simple tool my team just created to help me convert my keyword lists on the fly.

Keywords: adwords, pay per click, ppc

If just one of the big 3 automakers would make it through this economic mess, it would be Ford, in my opinion. That said, I got a chuckle out of a Chevy Silverado commercial I saw today. It was targeted at Ford F-150.

Keywords: advertising, television

I just finished a new postcard that will be released next week in response to the recession. The headline matches the blog title. The ad copy says the following...

Keywords: advertising, copy writing, copywriting, economy, recession

Most folks know that to get more revenue out of their customers, they should sell add-on products. However, some well-crafted add-on products not only give you more revenue at the time of the sale -- they practically GUARANTEE that you will get more repeat business.Here's a perfect example.

Keywords: marketing, online marketing, upsell

As promised yesterday, the new SpireCMS video demo is now complete. I've included a small-window version below, or you can click here to view it in a larger window.

Keywords: cms, cms 2.0, content management system, spirecms, video

I recently met with a prospective client who I'd never met. When I walked in the room, they said -- "I know who you are -- I saw your photo on your website." Yet when I described the powerful Content Management System that we have to give customers complete control over their content, this prospect didn't realize we offered that, even though I talk about it quite a bit on our website.I don't fault this person at all. It simply reminded me that many people are visual learners...

Keywords: cms, cms 2.0, economy, recession, spire promotions, spirecms, video

One of our SEO clients forwarded me an email they received from "Global Vibrations Inc" in Washington DC. Here's an excerpt...

Keywords: scam, search engine optimization, seo, sitemap

In October I blogged about some bad news -- the sudden closing of Archway Cookies here in Ashland Ohio.Late last week we learned that Lance Inc. -- the Charlotte-based company who bought the assets of Archway Cookies -- will be reopening Archway cookies.

Keywords: archway cookies, ashland ohio

Snow Trails Ski Resort opened this weekend for the first time in the 2008-2009 season. It was great to see how they used their new website to promote the opening weekend.Spire launched their new website on November 6. In just five weeks since the launch, the new website has hosted nearly 50,000 visitors, and more than 500,000 pages viewed.

Keywords: blog, email marketing, mansfield ohio website design, online marketing, snow trails, web 2.0

Our business has grown quickly over the past 18 months. One challenge has been finding the right system for email, schedules, to-dos and new business leads to handle our growth and keep things organized.Here's what we've done so far to get organized, and what I'm looking at to make the system better.

Keywords: crm, email marketing, gmail, google apps, spire promotions

Imagine if you could walk up to the prospective customers who are looking at your company's website and ask if they're ready to buy. What would they tell you? In fact, if you asked every website visitor -- how many do you think would be ready to buy your products or services right now... today... right on the spot? If you're selling expensive products or services, it's probably no more than 3%. So what are you going to do with the 97% who "walk out" of your "online store" without making a decision to buy?

Keywords: auto-responders, email marketing, online marketing

We've been working with the inventor of a North Carolina-based golf swing trainer since we designed & launched his website last Spring.We started assisting with marketing strategy late this summer, and while we had some early challenges, a lot of good things are finally starting to come together. Here's what we're doing:

Keywords: advertising, adwords, landing page, online marketing, optimization, pay per click, ppc

My prayers go out to the families affected by the recent closing of Archway Cookies. I’d like to issue a challenge to my neighbors here in Ashland. I believe there are more than enough talented, hard-working people in this area to create more jobs than our community has ever seen. The secret to creating those jobs...

Keywords: archway cookies, ashland ohio, economy, entrepreneur

If you are a member of the Ashland or Mansfield Chamber of Commerce, you will be receiving our new postcard sometime this week...

Keywords: advertising, chamber of commerce, cms, content management system, local businesses, online marketing

I've been aware of Twitter for a while, but have never been terribly impressed. Cool for personal use, but businesses are raving about it being the next big thing, and I've just never seen the marketing benefit to using it.

Keywords: online marketing, social media, twitter, web 2.0

I've been kind-of quiet about our ranking up until now, because I thought it was a fluke. What I found is great news for small local businesses who think they can't compete on the search engines.

Keywords: local search, ohio web design, search engine optimization, seo

Hello! My name is Jeremy Harrison. Welcome to my new blog! My role at Spire (aside from the normal things that go along with owning a business) is helping small business owners improve their marketing effectiveness.

Want to know what makes us different? Check out this list of 10 things that make us your best choice for a website design.

Keywords: spire promotions, web design, website design

If you're an existing Spire customer, you know how powerful and easy to use our Content Management system is. However, we haven’t been resting on our laurels...

Keywords: cms, cms 2.0, content management system, search engine optimization, seo