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Chapter 8: Marketing

Marketing takes place at all stages of your business. From the time you decide to open an herb business, you need to start thinking about all of the different ways to attract customers. There are numerous ways to promote your herb business, and as your business grows, the marketing needs and tactics will change and grow as well. Before hiring a marketing consultant, consider the number of ways to garner free or low-cost publicity to market your herb business and the products and services you sell. For any marketing tool you choose, think about the need for marketing, what that tool might be able to accomplish, and then select the right tool for the right circumstance. Even if you choose to use a professional, have an idea of what you want to gain from your marketing efforts, when you want it, and what you want to say in each type of advertisement. Consider the brand image you want to convey to your potential customers and think of how to develop this image. Understanding the stages and your options will help you get the most from a professional if you do choose to hire one.

For example, your primary concern when you first open an herb shop is to let the people in the community know the shop exists. The beginning stages of marketing for a new business focus mainly on bringing awareness of your business to potential customers. As your business grows and you have a base of customers, your marketing goal becomes more about drawing back customers again and again as repeat customers. During these stages, marketing efforts to attract new customers still exist, but your primary focus shifts from always bringing in new clients to nurturing the customers already buying herbs from your business.

Marketing Needs Differ at Various Stages in the Business

Marketing brings awareness of your business and its products to the consumers who are most likely to buy from you. Although running print advertisements in publications or renting a billboard sign in your community are forms of advertising, it is but one aspect of marketing.

Each stage of the business will require marketing, but different stages of business will have different requirements. For example, you will market your business differently before opening, just after opening, and after you have an established name. The next section includes common marketing tactics to consider. The tactic you select depends on your goals for each stage of your business and its development.

Tactics for any stage

Signs, a website, a telephone directory advertisement, business cards, and your logo are all items that belong in each and every stage of marketing. Because today’s business environment relies heavily on the Internet, many potential customers will search the Web to find herbs and herb products, which means your Web presence is an essential foundational piece of marketing you want up and running before you open. It must continue to be updated and live during your business operations. The same is true for a print ad — get the most you can afford, even if it is only a bold listing of your company in the traditional listing in the yellow pages.

Business cards are an essential component of marketing your business when you are networking or when you strike up a conversation with someone who is a prospective customer. Your card should have your name, title, contact information, and the logo of your company on the front of it. Place business cards on community bulletin boards, hand them out at local events, and give them to friends, acquaintances, and anyone you meet who could be a potential customer.

Attend events, social occasions, trade shows, networking events, or farmers markets where your target audience gathers. If the local gardening club holds an annual plant sale, contact the president of the club as soon as you see the flier for the event or the advertisement for it. Introduce yourself and inquire about the opportunity to attend the event as a vendor. This will allow you to mingle with fellow gardeners and growers, as well as the crowd of customers that comes to buy plants. If there are not any vendor opportunities, still go to the event. Go around to each of the stations to introduce yourself and hand your card to the members of the garden club. Some events also have goodie bags they hand out to attendees. You may have an opportunity to include your business card, brochure, flier, or another piece of promotional material about your business in these. The point is to find targeted locations and opportunities where you know people have an interest in your herb business to hand out business cards and start meaningful conversations with your audience, referral sources, suppliers, and vendors.

Also, be sure to maximize the space you have on your business cards — meaning use both the front and the back of the card. The front of the card can contain all of the contact information for the business. Use the back of the card to provide additional information, such as the types of herbs you sell, the classes you teach, or the special events you host throughout the year. Provide enough information on your business card so it acts as a stand-alone seller for your business. This means if someone were to find your card on the street or hanging from the bulletin board where you place it, they can quickly get up to speed on exactly what your business sells and how it benefits them to buy from your business over another company.

You have a variety of ways you can design and print business cards for your herb business. The most expensive way to obtain business cards is to hire a graphic designer to design the business cards and then send the file off to a printer to have the cards printed. Websites such as Vistaprint (www.vistaprint.com) and 48hourprint.com (www.48hourprint.com) bring customized and professionally printed business cards down an expense level. These sites have professionally designed business card templates you can customize, personalize, and print at a reduced rate. You also have the option to upload your own design, so even if you have a graphic designer create the card, you can upload the card to print through one of these companies for professionally printed cards that cost less than most local printers will charge.

Desktop publishing programs also make business card templates available for you to create business cards. Print these cards on your own printer using business card stock purchased at any major office supply or stationary store. Although this may be the least expensive way to get the business cards you need, it does require a time investment. Another disadvantage to creating and printing your own business cards is it may cheapen the image of your company.

Before you open: Building anticipation

Before you have opened for business, you need to let people know your business exists and what types of herb products you offer. To market among local businesses, join the chamber of commerce. For an herb business, visiting and speaking to garden clubs is another way to announce your presence. If you do not have any connections with the local garden clubs, call them, read the newspaper to stay informed about community events, and ask your friends if they have any information. If you specialize in medicinal herbs, find out about alternative medicine practitioners in the area and contact them. If you specialize in herbs used in aromatherapy, then contact spas, beauty salons, and massage therapists. When you find the name of a person at a local club or other group, call the contact person, introduce yourself, describe your business, and how your experience and knowledge can contribute to the group, and offer to speak at a meeting or event. When you speak, give each attendee a coupon for a free plant or a discount coupon to encourage them to visit your store or even your website. Be sure to give each attendee a business card with all of the contact information on it and the opening date of the business. You can also create nice flyers using any desktop publishing program or a word processing program. Print black and white copies of the flier onto color paper and be sure to include a coupon or special promotion as an incentive for the recipients to come in and visit your herb shop.

Although running a print ad in the local newspaper may be out of your budget when you first start your business, public relations may be your way in to the newspaper. Write a press release and submit it to local publications that cover stories on local businesses. See the additional information about putting together a press release and running a public relations campaign later in this chapter. Send all local newspapers, radio, and television stations a notice at least three weeks before your opening date. If the paper does not run a story, it may list you in the business listings or add the date of your grand opening in the calendar section of the publication. If the publication does decide to do a story on your business, a report or writer will contact you, conduct an interview, and request pictures or additional information from you directly.

Submit your press release to radio stations because they may be interested in interviewing you about your new business. If you are going to have a grand opening at the site of your store, this is a newsworthy topic you should alert the media of in a press release.

After opening: The early stages

Get out and talk to as many people as you can about your herb business. You may have the best herb shop in town, but if people do not know the store exists then it is all for naught. When you are sitting at a local restaurant waiting for a table and the person next to asks what you do, tell them a short, yet attention-grabbing description of your herb business. For example, use a tagline, such as “The Only Herb Shop in Town.” Then, your response can be, “Well, I own and run the only herb shop in town that sells culinary-grade ingredients,” or something similar. On the Internet, you can begin a blog to help get the name of the business into the public eye. Focus your topics on anything and everything your audience would have in interest in reading about herbs. Google and other search engines have pay-per-click ads you can purchase, but there are other ways to try to get your business name to come up in a local search without spending a lot of money. The best free option is to network with as many local groups as you can. Again, focus your networking efforts on where you can find large groups of people who will have an interest in the herb products or services you sell.

Fliers and brochures are also basic marketing elements. Especially in the early stages of your business, when your marketing budget may not be big, a professional-looking flier or brochure can go a long way in spreading the word that your business exists. Print fliers for the grand opening of your store and place them in local shops, restaurants, and cafés your potential customers frequent. Stand out in front of your store and hand out fliers to those passing by on the street or sidewalk. Hang fliers on telephone poles and in local grocery stores. Anywhere there is a bulletin board in your town should have at least one flier for your business on it.

Fliers and brochures also make great additions to neighborhood welcome packets and goodie bags handed out at local events. Oftentimes, putting your fliers or brochures in welcome packets and goodie bags is free. Other times, the event host or welcoming committee may charge a small fee for you to include your marketing material. When promoting a special event, class, or special promotion, you can even slide a flier or brochure inside bags when customers make a purchase from your store.

Regular advertising and marketing

Once you have started your business, you will need to find the right balance of advertising and marketing to earn free publicity; try anything that keeps your business in front of the public eye. Create an e-mail list to send birthday discounts to customers, and pass out club anniversary cards, celebrating the anniversary of the founding of a garden club. These cards offer discounts to members of the club who visit your business or place orders on that day, a form of regular advertising not too difficult to maintain. If you do not wish to have an e-mail list, keep a card file of customer information and send out the cards biweekly for birthdays and clubs. If you advertise in the newspaper on a weekly basis, be sure your ad is placed in the section you desire and that it appears in the paper in the same place each time so customers will be accustomed to finding it there. Offer a small discount to those who bring in the ad. It is a good way to judge effectiveness of the ad.

To maintain your exposure, continue passing out business cards to people you meet, but limit your use of press releases. They should not be sent more than every month unless you have a big event coming up. You do not want the local editors to get tired of you. If photos are relevant to the content of the press release, then include them if possible.

Without becoming annoying, offer to write a column on herbs for the local paper — at no pay. Be sure the local radio and television stations have your information; perhaps you can give herb advice or recipes to the community. Often the early morning shows are open to local visitors. If you are not happy about setting your alarm at 4 a.m. to make a 6 a.m. television show, just remember — the early bird gets the free publicity.

Networking at events of your chamber, sponsoring a neighborhood team, or giving a lecture at the library are other things you can do. The latter two may require an investment of money as well as time. It is important to market, and putting money into certain aspects of your campaign will pay off by creating a larger customer base. Purchase a magnetic sign for your car and attach it. Make sure the sign has the name of the shop, defines some relationship to herbs and plants, and includes the telephone number and e-mail for the business.

Case Study: Joining Up

Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce

4948 Main Street

PO Box 1185

Shallotte, NC 28459

Toll Free 800-426-6644

Fax: 910-754 6539

www.brunswickcountychamber.org

Networking with others in the community is a great way to establish your reputation as a business, maintain contact with customers, and expand your customer base. One way to do this is to join your local chamber of commerce. Joining a chamber of commerce not only establishes you as a viable member of the area’s business community, but it also opens up many real opportunities for business that make the small annual membership fee a valuable part of your advertising and marketing budget.

The Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce is a membership-driven organization striving to enhance the quality of Brunswick County by providing leadership through strengthening and promoting business, industry, and tourism. In 1976, the chamber was established as the South Brunswick Islands Chamber of Commerce with 38 charter members. The organization now has more than 750 members.

Cathy Altman, president of the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce, the chamber to which Shelton Herb Farms is a member of, said, “Brunswick County’s Chamber offers many benefits to members. While different types of businesses have different networking and marketing needs, certainly the chance to interact with other established businesses is a big benefit of membership for all. One of the best is the monthly networking meetings. About 150 of our 750+ members generally show up each month for the events.”

The advertised focal activity is less of a draw than the chance to meet with other business owners to exchange ideas and business cards. Members are also eligible to receive a copy of the chamber’s database that can be used for direct mail marketing to other members.

The Brunswick Chamber communicates with its members through a monthly e-newsletter and a weekly update. Altman said, “The updates are just for members, but the e-newsletter is on our website. Members can add their own events — notices of big sales or discounts, classes being held at the business, or talks being given by the business owner — good publicity.” The publicity is multiplied into the community when the chamber’s newsletter is posted online and anyone who calls the chamber website can read about it and your business if you have sent in a notice.

Altman notes that when a new member business has its grand opening, the chamber puts out publicity and holds a ribbon cutting to which other members are invited as well as the local press. But local connections are not the only benefit to membership. The chamber is a member of many larger regional, state, and even national organizations that promote businesses. “Two of the ones we belong to are the Carolinas Association of Chambers of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce Executives,” said Altman. When the Brunswick Chamber updates its activity information with the other organizations, this multiplies the times a member’s listing is posted. By having the name of the company or business put on the Web, potentially by all of these organizations, it also increases the likelihood the name of the member business will come up in a general search for information on this type of business.

The chamber in Brunswick is always actively marketing the Brunswick County area as a place to do business and a place for people to settle. At present, the county has more than 107,000 residents. “We want visitors to come and then move here,” Altman said. “When those visitors and potential new residents ask about services and businesses in the area, we direct them to our members.”

Membership fees will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, as will benefits. But most chambers offer networking, membership lists, and updated calendar listing information among their services. The Brunswick Chamber charges a base membership fee of $255 per annum. When you consider all of the public relations and networking opportunities membership offers, this is one of the least expensive and most effective bargains open to a new herb business in any part of the country.

Educating the Public

In a sense, everything we have talked about in marketing is aimed at educating the public as to the existence of your businesses and what it can offer. The radio, press columns, television appearances, giving classes, and talks are all a part of education. Be sure to feature plants on a regular basis, perhaps monthly. At the end of the year, put all of the material you have written together in a booklet and sell it or give it to your best customers.

Building Your Website

Maintaining a website for your business is crucial because most people searching for a business in their area will start with an Internet search. Give your clients information and a reason to visit your herb shop or order herbs from your website instead of the competition. This section outlines the basic components of a website, how to hire a Web page designer, how to use it to your business’s advantage, and the fundamentals of SEO. Remember to continuously update your site with fresh information, new pictures, updated contact information, and new design features. Because the business website is typically the first place potential customers go to find out about your herb shop, the herbs you sell, and where it is located, make sure you are giving them the information they seek.

Website Design Fundamentals

There are two very basic components to a website, which are the Web pages (the compilation of HTML pages you have designed) and the images, content, and other information displayed on your pages. Your individual Web pages collectively create your website, but your website can be as small as one page, or it can be thousands of pages. All websites have a home page, which is the page site visitors come to when they type in your domain name into a browser. From your home page, visitors can navigate and visit other pages on your site. All websites consistently change as new content and other Web pages are added; so though you may complete your initial design and publish your Web page, typically your site will require further maintenance, updating, and revisions. The most challenging part of creating a website is developing a blueprint for how you want your site organized, what pages it will contain, how content will be organized, and how your pages will be laid out in relation to others as you design your navigation and page relationships. Design your pages individually, formulate what each page should include, and then you can flesh out the actual content and site design later. You can do this work on a piece of paper or even with sticky notes on the wall to help you visualize the layout.

One of the first things to recognize when building a website is you will either need some type of software program or you will have to learn HTML coding and build your site from the ground up. For those determined to learn all of the coding necessary to build and maintain a website, there is a variety of software options to help you with your design goals. When approaching your website design, it is usually best to keep colors and fonts at a basic level.

Four main components of a website

1. Domain name: This name is registered and corresponds with where your website is physically located on a Web server. It is used for your e-mail accounts.

2. Web hosting: This is the physical “storage” of your Web pages on a server connected to the Internet. Your website consists of a series of Web pages. These Web pages are files stored on a Web server along with images and other content. This Web server has an IP address that is a unique machine name for that Web server. DNS servers translate your domain name (i.e. “www.mywebsite.com”) into the IP address where your site is hosted, and your Web server then serves your page to the Web browser of your site visitor. Therefore, it is critical that your DNR account, the company where you bought your domain name, is updated with the physical IP address of your DNS, provided by your hosting company, to ensure typing your domain name into a browser window will direct your visitors to the DNS. This then translates to the IP address of your site, ensuring your Web pages properly display at all times.

3. Web pages: These are the pages you create and publish to your Web server. Create Web pages with programs such as Microsoft® Office FrontPage, Microsoft® Expression Web, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS4, and many other applications, including free design applications online.

4. Optional items: These might include shopping carts, forms, or databases. Although none of these are required for websites, you will find your needs may change over time, so keep that in mind during the planning process.

Website options

Having a business website is an essential component of conducting business nowadays. Getting your business website up and running boils down to two main options: Either build and maintain the website yourself or hire a professional to build and maintain it for you.

A myriad of options exist online for website companies that offer templates you can use to customize the look and feel of your business site. Other sites allow you to host your Web site with them and build your own website with a desktop publishing or design program such as Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Dreamweaver. Taking this route may cost you anywhere from $4.95 per month to about $50 per month, depending on the host you choose and the service options you choose to utilize through the host — such as memory storage amount, e-mail addresses, template options, and domain name.

The other main option is to hire a website designer to custom design a website for your business. The cost for a custom site design can run you anywhere from $100 for more of a basic website to thousands of dollars for a complex one. Not only do you need to consider the cost of hiring a designer to create your website, but most designers also charge you for making changes to the site after it is up and running.

If it is within your budget, choose a custom site for your initial design, though this will make any changes and maintenance needs difficult. Let the professionals do what they do best: build a great website. After the design of the site is settled, consider how you are going to obtain the content for the site. You have to either write the content on your own or hire a writer to create the content for you. This can be an added expense of anywhere from $100 to thousands of dollars, depending on how many pages of content you need the writer to create for the site.

Having an up-to-date blog is the No. 1 way people are going to find your herb business online because search engines look for updated content when determining page rank. Share your expertise about your business, industry, or niche in your blog posts. Then, integrate your blog with the social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) to help drive traffic to your site. Mix it up between longer, more word-driven posts talking about industry specific news and shorter posts about a new product or service. Any videos or images you can add will also help make your blog more three-dimensional. Just remember: Your blog should not be just about your business; you want to connect with your customers, not hard sell them your products and services. You can use complimentary blogging platforms such as Wordpress (www.wordpress.com) or Blogger (www.blogger.com) to create and maintain a blog.

In order for a blog to be an effective marketing tool, it is imperative for you to post on your blog at least two to three times a week. Blog posts should include keywords your potential clients and target markets use to find information on the services you provide.

You can also map out a year’s worth of e-newsletter content, tweets, and public relations campaigns that are all built around the same editorial content topics to keep everything streamlined and in alignment.

Domain Names

You must own your own domain name, which is your brand name on the Web, because it is the address site visitors type in to visit your website. It is critical you choose a good domain name and host it with a reputable provider. There are dozens of companies from which you can purchase your domain name.

Your domain name should uniquely identify your business. The general rule of thumb is the shorter the domain name, the better, and it should be relevant to your company name, service, or products. If you already have an established corporate name or identity, try to base your domain name on that corporate identity. This will allow customers to identify your company name with your domain name. For example, Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.’s domain name is www.atlantic-pub.com. For example, if your business name is Thyme to Buy Herbs, then you may try to buy the domain name www.thymetobuyherbs.com.

It is important you name your website after your domain name. The primary reason for this is so people know your website and business by name. CNN stands for Cable News Network, but no one calls it that. CNN is simply known as CNN, and the domain name is CNN.com. Although this may be a simplistic explanation, your domain name should easily relate to your company name so your “brand” or company name can be easily recognized or memorized.

Many professional Web designers recommend using keywords in your domain name rather than your company name. For example, the www.herbworldusa.com domain name specifically targets the herb industry and herb enthusiasts by using the keyword “herb.” Therefore, when you type the keywords “herb business” into search engines, this website pops up in one of the top spots. Your domain name may have relevance in how some search engines rank your website, so embedding keywords into your domain name may help you achieve better search engine success. Another option to consider is to purchase both domain names identifying your business and those using keywords. For example, buy the domain for your business name, www.herbworld.com and the domain name for the industry such as www.herbbusiness.com. Put your website files on the domain name with the keywords and redirect the domain names with the company name to the keywords domain name. So, whether they type www.herbworldusa.com or www.herbbusiness.com, the website that pulls up is the same. This will allow you to market the domain name with your company name, which helps with branding, and get the benefits of having the actual website located under a domain name with keywords.

Keywords built into website content and meta tags are essential to obtaining and maintaining visibility with the major search engines. This is discussed in detail later in this chapter. Keywords are not something you implement once and forget; the keywords must be constantly updated to ensure immediate success in gaining visibility and to keep your site listed on the first page of the search engine results. Few people look beyond the first page of search engine results, so if you are located on page ten, or even page two, you may never be found.

Use keywords in the copy of your website that prospective clients would use to search for the products or services of your herb business; this is the basis of search engine optimization (SEO). Choose one or two keywords to focus on for each page of your site, and then scatter the keywords, phrase, and combinations of the phrase in the beginning, in the middle, and toward the end of your copy. Make sure that the copy is written to include the keywords so text flows and sounds natural. You can use free keyword tools such as the Google AdWords™ Keyword Tool, or hire a professional keyword consultant to help you come up with a list of keywords to include on the site.

If you provide services to a confined geographic area, be sure to include keywords that speak about the area you cover. Also, use the keywords in the page titles, headlines, and sub-headlines in the copy on each page.

Domain names should not be extremely long; this is going to be your URL address for your website, and should be easy to remember. Although some people may bookmark your page in their Internet browser, just as many, if not more, will not. You could lose valuable traffic if your website address is too long. If you are determined to have a long URL address, hyphenating the words will make it easier to read.

There was a time when domain names were readily available, but today you will find many domain names are already registered. Typically, there are variations of your desired domain name available, or perhaps other domain name extensions such as .org, .net, or .us. Check the availability of a domain name by visiting GoDaddy.com by going to www.godaddy.com.

Search Engine Optimization — Explained

While designing your website, you will read and hear a great deal about search engine optimization (SEO). Search engine optimization (SEO) is a marketing vehicle used to increase a website’s rank among search engines. SEO involves developing your website in a way that will give you the maximum visibility with search engines. The more customers who see your products and information listed, the greater the chance they will click on your business’s link. Similarly, the closer your listing is to the top of the first page, the more clicks you will have. Understanding how SEO works is not difficult. Applying it to your site in a productive manner, however, takes considerable work. Website marketing has become very sophisticated due to increasing levels of available technology. With millions of websites competing for potential customers, it has become increasingly complex to ensure interested buyers find your site.

All Internet professionals have their own ideas on how to achieve high rankings. Search engines are often called spiders because they spread across the Internet looking for morsels of information to bring back to eat. In this case, it eats words and phrases, and it prefers the newest, most interesting food it can find. These spiders, or search engines, hunt, retrieve, and collect information based on the keywords users request. They are searching for the most relevant results. Search engine spiders, therefore, study the content of websites and rank content by hunting for specific phrases. They use two or more related words or phrases to garner the basic meaning of your page. Providing relevant, frequently updated copy with the right keywords and phrases will attract these spiders.

Always keep in mind these two words: “fresh copy.” Search engines seek new content. If your content grows outdated, or you rarely add new copy, the search engines will overlook your website. Your website’s home page alone is not enough to keep the search engines happy. Blogs or extra pages with additional copy attached to your main website are required to rouse the interest of a search engine. Most importantly, you need to integrate the keywords, or those special words pertaining to your unique product or service, into your website design, copy, and videos. Use a different title and description with keywords on each page. Remember, the title of the page is the most important SEO factor. Also, do not forget to include a site map on your website. The search engine spiders cannot index pages if they are not available. Site maps help search engines understand the layout of your site. Using these keywords will help you “optimize” your website and be listed on one of the first two search engine pages. Most users will not go further than this to find the product or service they desire.

Overusing SEO keywords and other banned tactics

Although using keywords on your site is necessary for SEO, overusing them can have a detrimental effect on your rankings. When websites are stuffed with keywords so much so the copy becomes unintelligible, search engines and customers know you are trying to scam the system. When this happens, the search engine spiders will stop visiting your site and your site will eventually be ignored, resulting in low rankings.

The recommended keyword density ranges from 3 to 7 percent per article. Anything above this, even a 10 percent density, starts to look like keyword stuffing. It is even more important to have the correct density in the title, headings, and opening paragraphs. Find keyword density tools online, such as KeywordDensity.com (www.keyworddensity.com), to help determine whether your keywords are within the correct range. If not, find synonyms or rewrite the copy.

Hidden text, another forbidden SEO, occurs when the text and links are designed to be the same color as the background. Search engines will not only pass these over, but may punish you for such practices. This tactic is similar to hidden links or doorway pages, which are written into websites exclusively to achieve high rankings. Duplicate pages, with the same copy used repeatedly, are similarly nixed and no longer acceptable. The search engines are just as stringent on the number of links per page, and they monitor the number of outbound and inbound links.

Another SEO turnoff is using small or unreadable type to fit more words into the design of the website. The biggest “no-no” in terms of keywords is one that not only disturbs the search engines, but your visitors as well. This involves adding keywords to your written text on your page that have nothing to do with the theme of the page. Keywords are important, but it is how they are used that matters.

Unfortunately, the SEO process is becoming increasingly complex because Google and the other search engines are continually changing their searching parameters. Because of this, many e-business owners use qualified SEO experts who are familiar with the latest changes. These professionals are hired to deliver SEO results by ensuring the websites are readily seen by potential customers. Also, check with your Web host, which may offer this service at an additional cost. Hiring an SEO expert can be costly, so decide how much of your marketing budget will be spent on optimization. Consider taking on this responsibility yourself and put aside a couple hours each day to ensure your website is getting the best placement. The more you are committed to the process, the better the results will be.

Some additional SEO tips

You can do some basic things to increase the chances that the search engines will pick up your copy. These include the following:

Meta Tag Definition and Implementation

Meta tags are a key part of the overall SEO program you need to implement for your website. Meta tags are the description embedded into the HTML code of your website that describes the information found on each page of your site. For example, when you conduct an online search using your favorite search engine, the short description that appears beneath the listing is the meta tag description. There remains controversy surrounding the use of meta tags and whether including them as part of your website code truly impacts search engine rankings, but they are still an integral part of a sound SEO plan, and some search engines do use these tags in their indexing process. You will find conflicting guidance on whether Google uses them or ignores them. Your site will compete against thousands or more other websites, and these other sites can potentially promote similar products using similar keywords and using other SEO techniques to attain that top search engine ranking. Using meta tags may offer a degree of control and let you influence how search engines will index your Web pages. However, there is no guarantee of top rankings on crawler-based search engines.

Only use keywords and phrases you have added within the material contained on your Web pages. Keep in mind to use the plural forms of keywords so all forms of words will show up in a search. Implementing words intentionally spelled wrong may increase the chances of people locating your site. For herbs, someone may accidentally misspell it as “erb” so you may want to include “erb.”

Avoid repeated instances of keywords and phrases in a meta keyword tag. Area-specific products or services should be noted in your meta keyword tag (e.g., New York City, NY).

The HTML encoding for each page on a website contains meta tags. In order to view the head of the page, you need to look at the HTML code. For Internet Explorer users, use the “View” menu on your toolbar and choose the “Source” option to figure out the origin of any website. When utilizing a design tool, such as Dreamweaver CS4, Microsoft® SharePoint Designer 2007, or Microsoft® Expression Web Designer, make sure you are in the HTML view when you need to modify your source code. Other editing tools for this purpose include Notepad and TextEdit.

Web Design Hardware Requirements

You do not need to invest significant funds to be able to create your own website; you only need to have a reliable computer. Websites can be designed and tested on your personal or business computer, and you do not need to have your own Web server — in fact, avoid this cost. Many Web designers work exclusively from their laptop computers, which is a great way of having mobility, so you can keep working on your Web pages no matter where you are.

You will need a fast, reliable Internet connection. It really does not matter what you choose, as long as it is high speed broadband that is reliable and cost-effective. Do not cut corners on your Internet speed, and do not use dial-up because it is far too slow and you will become frustrated with its limitations very quickly. You may want to use an external 1GB hard drive for regular backups, while programs like Carbonite™ are extremely useful for full backups of websites. You can get a free trial of Carbonite at www.carbonite.com.

For graphics editing, popular options include Corel® Paint Shop Pro® X3 and Adobe Photoshop CS4. Some well-known examples of Web design software include Microsoft Office FrontPage, Microsoft Expression Web, and Adobe Dreamweaver CS4. Other design applications such as Serif WebPlus X2 offer great tools for the novice designer. You do not need to invest significant funds into advanced Web design applications. There are also many freeware, or free software, offering solutions to your Web design and graphic editing needs. Also, it is important to recognize that most Web hosting companies also provide easy-to-use website templates as part of your hosting package, which enable you to create a great looking site quickly and easily.

In the Web design and development communities, you will see two distinct groups: the Microsoft group and the Adobe group. The Adobe group uses Adobe Dreamweaver CS4. Most Web developers consider Dreamweaver to be the professional Web designer’s product of choice. In comparison, many used to consider Microsoft Office FrontPage to be the beginner’s tool. Microsoft changed that with the release of Microsoft Expression Web, which matches up favorably with Dreamweaver. Microsoft no longer officially supports FrontPage, but it is still readily available for purchase. It is a good beginner tool that provides you with the environment where you create in design mode and the software writes the HTML code for you. WebPlus X2 is also a great design application for those without any HTML experience.

Using Social Media and Networking

Social networking is the new “it” marketing vehicle. The main objective is to allow members who have the same interest to interact and exchange information. Many small businesses are finding social networking to be a great way to build and grow, especially in tough economic times when advertising budgets have been cut. Instead of paying for costly advertising, you are spreading information through word of mouth and websites generally free to use.

Although the exact definition is still being clarified, social networking essentially refers to an online community or group of users where people can connect and communicate with others. Although the actual format may vary from one network to another, communication takes place in many ways, such as blogs, e-mail, instant messaging, forums, video, or chat rooms. Social networking connects people across the world in the privacy of their own homes, and the networking sites are usually free and instantaneous. People can easily stay in touch with current friends, seek old relationships, or establish new friendships. There are multiple social networking sites; some are primarily for social use and others for business networking.

How it will help

Members of social networking sites are numerous, which creates an excellent opportunity for an individual to expand and promote a business without having to pay for advertising. With social networking, you can build an image and develop your customer base. To increase their website traffic, many site owners are quickly realizing the value social networking sites have in drawing new customers. The following are some ideas on how to use social networking site to generate website traffic:

Popular social networking sites

With the ever increasing number of people who use the Internet on a regular basis, these social websites have become an essential part of marketing as this is the best and the easiest way for people to get connected with each other and stay in touch.

Facebook Fan Page

Create a Facebook Fan Page that speaks directly to your target markets and focuses on the geographic area of your business (if applicable). On the fan page for your business, include an opt-in box for a free offer, such as a subscription to your e-newsletter, so visitors can immediately subscribe to your list and be taken to your website. To build your fan base, include a special announcement in your e-newsletter to drive traffic to the fan page. Be sure to include a link to your fan page in every piece of correspondence you have with your customers. This way, you are creating a two-way street: driving traffic from social media to your website, and vice versa. If you can gather video or audio testimonials from clients, these are also great ways to let your services speak for themselves. If not, then record case studies or scenarios where you can illustrate how your service helped a client to gain success.

Use the Facebook Fan Page in various ways, including sharing your blog posts with links that drive them directly to where the post sits on your site. Pose questions to your audience in an effort to engage them and make it more of an interactive experience. This also allows you to evaluate who your audience is on your fan page so you can then work on funneling them into the appropriate product or service level of your business. You can also integrate your Twitter™ account with your fan page so your updates get more exposure And, even have a custom background created that matches your brand in addition to the sidebar information about your business. A dramatic or attractive background can boost interest for followers.

Facebook profile

Because Facebook limits actual profiles to individuals, it is a better practice to create a Facebook Fan Page or group for your herb business and integrate your personal Facebook page with your business’s page. Use your personal profile page to talk about your professional relation to the business, join relevant groups, and RSVP to events that connect to your target market. Join groups or become a fan of any professional organizations you belong to and any of your competitors. Also, integrate your Twitter account with your profile so your updates get more exposure.

MySpace® is a social networking site that offers an interactive platform for all its users. It allows the sharing of files, pictures, and even music videos. View the profiles of your friends, relatives, and any other users; you can also create and share blogs with each other. Users often compare Facebook to MySpace, but there is a different amount of personalization allowed when designing pages on the two sites. In November 2010, MySpace added a feature that allows users to link their Facebook and MySpace pages. Although MySpace enables users to create customized profiles using HTML and CSS, Facebook only gives the option of placing simple text on a profile. The most prominent feature that makes MySpace unique among other sites is its affiliate program. An affiliate program is a form of Web advertising that rewards the affiliates, or those doing the marketing on their site for another company, for driving traffic to the advertiser or for subsequent transactions. If the affiliate product you are selling has a broad appeal, you may want to consider using MySpace to market your product, as you will be able to reach a large crowd quickly.

YouTube® is another social networking site owned by Google. To become a member of YouTube, go to the “Signup” page, choose a username and password, enter your information, and click the “Signup” button. YouTube is the largest video sharing network site in the world, and it is a great place to do video marketing. Upload videos of tours of your shop, greenhouse, and gardens. You may also wish to upload instructional videos on how to grow a specific herb or to make a craft out of herb products.

Digg™ is a place to unearth and share content retrieved anywhere throughout the Web. It is unique compared to other social networking sites because it allows you to directly network with people and directly sell products. Once a post is submitted, it appears on a list in the selected category. From there, it will either fall in ranking or rise in raking, depending on how people vote. Digg is actually what is known as a “social bookmarking” site. Social bookmarking is a method where users can share, organize, and search bookmarks of Web pages or articles in an online, public forum instead of simply on their browsers; many social bookmarking sites allow users to vote on or recommend bookmarks, which allows content to grow more popular and be seen by a wider range of people the higher it is ranked. Submit your content to Digg, and other Digg users — known as Diggers — will review and rate it. Once it is rated high enough, your content may get posted on the home page of Digg, which gets thousands of visitors a day, potentially driving tons of traffic to your website or blog.

Twitter™ is different from other social networking sites, and the popularity of Twitter has grown at an amazing rate. Twitter is actually a form of microblogging, which is a Web service that allows users to broadcast short messages — in Twitter’s case 140 characters or less — to other users. With Twitter, you can let your friends know what you are doing throughout the day right from your phone or computer. When you sign up with Twitter, you post and receive messages (known as a “tweet”) with your Twitter account, and the site sends your tweet out to your friends and subscribers. In turn, you receive all the messages sent from those you wish to follow, including friends, family, and even celebrities. You can link your Facebook and Twitter accounts as well.

Twitter is another social media marketing tool you can use to promote your herb business online. Use Twitter to share information, products, and services related to your business. This helps to position you as an expert resource for herb information without always trying to sell them on your products and services. Aim for 80 percent information sharing and 20 percent promotion. You can integrate your tweets with your blog posts and articles, a highly effective way to attract followers, and it permits you to communicate with your followers and drive them to your Web site. Almost all tweets should include a link to a specific blog article, product, or service on your Web site.

Make your tweets intriguing, and then send your followers somewhere they can get more information by including a link. Twitter allows you to share information, but your goal is to use it as a tool to drive traffic to your herb website — as is the goal with all of your social media marketing. Be sure to use the “shorten URL” feature on Twitter to keep the length of the URLs as short as possible; bit.ly (http://bit.ly) is a URL shortener that also tracks your links and gives you information on how active a certain post is.

Follow people you admire — such as authors, bloggers, e-zines you read, seminars you attend, or leaders in your field — as well as your competitors. Visit these profiles and their lists of followers to find people to follow who fit your target market. Consider having a custom background created that matches your brand in addition to the sidebar information about your business. A dramatic or attractive background can boost interest for followers.

Flickr® is a photo and video sharing website that lets you organize and store your photos online. You can upload from your desktop, send by e-mail, or use your camera phone. It has features to eliminate red eye, crop a photo, or use your creative side with fonts and effects. Google Picasa® is another great photo sharing and storing application.

Popular business networking sites

The following sites offer businesses opportunities to network with other business owners.

Special promotions for holidays

Use special promotions for holidays or when a season is ending and you have extra stock. This is a wonderful time to use press releases and to offer classes using the herb of the special promotion as the focus. If you work fairs and festivals, be sure to take plenty of business cards and fliers describing course offerings and special promotions. Around the holidays, hold a photo contest for the best herb photo or sponsor a recipe contest with a featured herb. A recipe contest can also lead to having the entrants bring in their recipes and have customers vote on the best dish. Make herb bouquets with seasonal ribbons or put seasonal ribbons on pots to encourage sales of plants to give as hostess gifts.

Public relations program

One of the key programs that will help to boost your business and subscriber list while increasing credibility is publicity. Publicity is a low-cost, effective way to reach your target audience. The purpose of publicity for an herb business is:

Public relations (PR) is one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to promote who you are and what you do so you get more clients and more sales for your business. It is the art of building favorable and profitable interest in you, your business, your products, or your services by creating a “buzz” in the marketplace. PR gets your message across and tells others about you, what you do, and why it is important to them. Public relations lends credibility to your claims more than paid advertisements and builds your reputation from a third-party point of view; therefore, it is often more valuable than advertising alone. PR is effective because it:

When people read about you in the media from a journalist or hear about your business on the radio, you get instant third-party validation and receive positioning as an expert in your field. Although a paid advertisement placed in a publication can cost you tens of thousands of dollars each time it is run, a well-placed article a journalist writes on your business or where you are quoted as an herb expert is much more cost effective and adds value to your business.

Trade publications have a number of subscribers, and most have thousands of readers, each of whom is a prospective client that may need the services your herb business offers. At the very least, the readers likely know someone who needs the products or services you provide. In addition, this positions you as an expert, which produces a premium price because people are more willing to pay more for your expertise. This often removes price as an obstacle to overcome in the process of attracting new clients. PR also levels the playing field and allows small businesses to appear larger than they are and compete on the same level as larger businesses.

PR helps you attract qualified prospects and leads. The more people know about you, the higher the level of trust it builds, which makes it more likely they will contact you and refer others to you. As an added bonus, current clients get the confirmation they need that your business is the best one with which to do business. Here is how to get started:

When writing a press release for online media, the main goal is to get keywords picked up by search engines. A search engine optimized (SEO) press release is geared toward specific keywords rather than a specific story idea. SEO press releases are written and used online to increase the amount of traffic you drive to your website. Keyword-focused press releases are generally distributed through wire services. Many companies — especially larger ones — are sending press releases through these online services for the primary purpose of driving traffic to their websites. Submit your monthly press releases to the top five online press release distribution sites, which include one paid service and four free services.

ONLINE PRESS RELEASE DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

PRWeb.com

$80/release

I-newswire.com

Free

IdeaMarketers.com

Free

Free-press-release.com

Free

24-7pressrelease.com

Free

Speaking opportunities

Speaking opportunities can be an excellent source for new prospects and sale conversions for your herb business. Use speaking opportunities to expand your reach and position yourself as an expert in your field. Offsite speaking engagements help you reach potential customers while simultaneously enforcing the establishment of your expertise. Some options include being a guest speaker for radio shows, Webinars, and workshops, online or in-person.

Speaking engagements allow you to connect with current and potential customers and referral sources. It provides the opportunity to showcase areas of expertise, schedule appointments with potential customers, and even close sales. Have a system in place to gather the names and contact information of the attendees of the show or event where you are speaking. Run a contest to gather attendee names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers; this allows you to build your list of leads and provides you with the opportunity to follow up with those leads to try to convert them into customers.

Speaking engagements are also prime locations for selling products on the spot. Run a show or speaking engagement special so if a prospect buys a product from you at the show, they receive a special discount or bonus offer.

Advertising

Paid ads are often a good use of your money, especially for the grand opening and special events. Research the various media outlets in your area to decide where to advertise. Newspapers, radio, and television will all provide statistics on their customer response based on audience size. Supplement these numbers with a survey of your friends. Ask them how local media moves them to action — in other words, if they see an ad, do they act on it more frequently if it is a coupon in the newspaper, a radio commercial, or a television commercial?

Look for a local agency that advertises regularly. Call the firm and ask them specifics about ad campaigns they have created. If you recognize the campaign, this is a great sign. They should be able to provide you with statistics about the success of these campaigns. You might even want to call the company that hired the advertising agency to confirm the success of their investment in ads.

You need to consider which form of media to place the ad. Then, think about where the ad should be located in the press. For example, if you choose advertising in a newspaper, then decide if you want it near the food or gardening section, if it should be in color, and how many words it should be. All material should include the name, address, and contact information for the business. Also be sure to include the location time and date of any event you plan to host at your business.

Writing an e-mail newsletter

E-mail newsletters can be complex or simple. The reader should read the e-mail you send them and feel they have benefited from the information. From time to time, include special discounts and offers for subscribers only. Then, your subscribers will feel privileged to be included in your list. These discounts will also help you gauge the effectiveness of your e-mails. To find ideas for your own newsletter, search the Internet for some styles you like.

A simple topic for an e-mail newsletter is alerting the subscribers you have just received a shipment of the herb of the year. The newsletter might also include instructions on how to plant and grow the herb in your part of the country, some recipes that call for that herb, and instructions on how to harvest and dry the herb. You are presenting the readers with useful information alongside an easy way to access the product you are telling them about in the newsletter.

Newsletters can be more elaborate as well, including photos in color of the herb farm, a customer of the month feature, herbs in stock, uses of these herbs, recipes, and interviews. The layout and design can resemble a newspaper and should be in the body of an e-mail.

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