JoAnn Zarick needed help making her company visible in search listings. So she became a certified Google AdWords Professional and not only helps herself - but other small businesses to use pay-per-click advertising.

In my last post I commented how women-owned businesses were on the rise in the U.S.  Shortly after that post I was contacted by the Editor of a local newspaper, Southwest Florida Business Today who proceeded to interview me about this very topic!  I couldn’t believe it!  I was so surprised and excited all at the same time because women-owned businesses are gaining national attention and fast!  I am proud to be a woman-owned business and I want to say “Kudos” to all of the women across the nation who work their businesses, from the multi-million dollar businesses to the momprenenuers who work from home each and every day to make that statistic a reality!

I just read a statistic that said women-owned businesses in the U.S. account for more than 51% of all businesses owned in America!  WOW!  It just goes to show that women are moving faster now more than ever than our male counterparts to succeed in business.  Kudos to all women business owners - keep up the good work!

Much like a billboard you see on the side of a highway, did you know you have approximately 5-8 seconds to capture an internet users attention upon them immediately landing on your web site or landing page? If you fail to pique their interest within that time frame, they hit the back button and they are gone as quickly as they came in (not to mention you just handed them over on a silver platter to your competitors). As Perry Marshall says, “If your site were a retail store, this would be the equivalent of watching people walk in the front door, take two steps in, and then turn around and leave.”

Many web site owners do not even utilize captivating headlines on their web and/or landing pages to capture the interest of the user and then they wonder why their conversion rates are in the toilet. What many of them fail to realize is that the headline is the most important piece of copy on their web site as this is what users WILL actually read at bare minimum. So in your headline copy, give them a reason to stick around.

Here are ten helpful tips to keep in mind when writing a headline:

1. Be “informational not salesy” with your headline.

2. Employ your main keywords in the headline and try to use them as close to the beginning of your headline as possible. When you do this, it instantly reassures the user that they have landed in the right place and they wont be inclined to hit the back button so fast.

3. Your headline should be in bolded text and in a larger font than the rest of the copy on your web page.

4. Don’t be afraid to add some color. Headlines that are all black are boring! Accentuate some words in red, blue, or yellow. Generally only pick 2 colors.

5. Emphasize certain words by underlining them.

6. Remember to focus on the benefits of your product or service, not the features. As the old saying goes, benefits sell, features tell.

7. Keep your headline clean and easy to read by using shorter words.

8. Don’t mix the message; be as simple and direct as possible with your message.

9. Be sure to center the headline on the web page.

10. Use exclamation points when applicable to emphasize excitement.

In closing, sub-headlines are useful too. They are placed right below the main headline to offer additional information about your product or service in a quick, easy and skimmable format.

To Your success my friends,

JoAnn

In an effort to keep up with Google I am assuming, Yahoo finally decided to lower their minimum cost per click.  The lowest amount you can bid on a keyword in Google is .05 cents.  Yahoo was .10 per click but no longer….you can now bid on keywords in Yahoo for below .10 cents.  Can’t say I didn’t see that coming…..

till next my friends,

JoAnn

All to often I consult with clients who have tried to manage an effective Google AdWords campaign themselves and after paying Google many hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars they come to the hard realization that they need professional help. That’s when my phone rings. They call me, we talk for a bit and then I take a peek inside the campaign they were running and I see the same thing over and over again….. which is one campaign with one ad group with anywhere from 25 to 100 keywords and to make  matters even worse, they have their visitors landing on their home page after clicking on their ad leaving the visitor to guess where to go next. Big mistake! If a person has to figure out where to go after they land on your web page, you’re making them work entirely too hard. You need to show them exactly what they were searching for. Recently I attended an Internet Marketing seminar in Miami where I heard one of the guest speakers describe today’s internet user/visitor and what you must keep in mind when crafting an online ad and/or designing a web page and that is.. “You must act as though the average internet user is 4 years old who drinks lots of coffee and has Attention Deficit Disorder.” After I thought about it, he was absolutely correct. I have personally come to call this the “Internet User Principle”. If someone doesn’t find what they are looking for in 5 seconds or less, they get impatient and they are gone-they hit the back button and you just lost a potential customer to your competitor. This happens all the time! So to the “AdWords do-it-yourselfers” I say - remember the internet user principle when creating your next ad. Until next time my friends…

JoAnn

Among the many successful business women I met at the Enterprising Women of the Year Awards held in Orlando, I had the pleasure of meeting Deborah Osgood, Cofounder of Knowledge Institute, Inc.  The Knowledge Institute is committed to helping small business owners start, grow and succeed in business.  They  took the guesswork out of connecting business owners to hundreds of programs and grants (based on your locale) that provide free and low-cost assistance on virtually every topic pertaining to starting and growing a viable business.  They promise “answers and tools in 3-clicks or less” to help grow your business!  They can also put you in touch with business experts who can offer valuable assistance to support your business success!  Visit www.BuzGate.org  for more information and be sure to bookmark this site as one of your favorites!  Until next time my friends,

JoAnn

I had the opportunity of attending a conference recently in Orlando, Florida. It was for women entrepreneurs. In typical conference style, they had break-out sessions throughout the day on various topics. Well, during one of the break out sessions, several of the speakers who were suppose to speak on a panel type discussion didn’t show up. Well guess who was asked to fill in? That’s right, yours truly. I spoke for a few minutes on the power of pay per click advertising and then we opened the floor up to Q&A. What amazed me was there were only about 35 in attendance and the topic was Innovative Marketing Methods for your business. With so many women in attendance at this particular conference I was surprised at how low the turn out was on a topic like that! It just goes to show people don’t know what they don’t know…

The other thing I was completely amazed at was how many people leave their cell phones on while attending an hour seminar. If you are going to leave your cellphone on during a class, the least thing you can do is turn the ringer off and switch it to vibrate. It is not only disruptive and rude to the speaker, but it is disruptive and rude to the people around who are trying to listen to the speaker! Be kind - turn your cell phone off for an hour - your business will not go belly up if they can’t get in touch with you for 60 minutes!

Until next time my friends,
JoAnn

Just picked up the Premier issue of Success magazine and who better to have on the cover then Mr. Success himself, Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and his lovely wife Kim.  I’ll be honest here, I bought the magazine because they were on the cover.  How can you not admire them?  Anything either of them has to say, I take note and listen.  Anyway, the magazine comes with a CD/DVD with leading personal achievement experts such as Mark Victor Hansen, Napolean Hill, Og Mandino, Earl Nightingale, and of course my all time favorite and mentor, Jim Rohn.  A great value and good reading!  I’ll tell you how the DVD is as soon as I watch it.  Until next time…

JoAnn

Welcome Back!  As you all can see, my blog got a face lift (that is Internet speak for web site redesign).  Our site has been down for little over a month recuperating from the face lift (smile).  It took a little longer than expected but as always in web design, nothing ever gets completed on time.  I’m not complaining, my team of web heads did a phenomenal job and it was definitely worth the wait!  I welcome your comments - please tell me what you think.

JoAnn