|
DuctTapeMarketing.com
May 31, 2006
In this issue:
Resource #1
- System Workbooks
Main Article
- 10 Essential Small Business Tools
Resource #3
- List of SEO Resources
Duct Tape Coaches
-
Hire A Duct Tape Marketing Coach
Free Magazine -
Fishing for Leads with White Papers
Featured Reading -
Lead Generation for the Complex Sale -
Brian Carroll
Featured Listening -
In
the House -
Audrey Auld Mezera & Nina Gerber
Mack Collier at the
Viral Garden
has taken the
Alexa data and come up with a
top 25
marketing blogs list. Some you've heard of, some, I suspect, you
have not. I find these types of lists to be a good way to find some
really good new (to me at least) blogs.
You can always view past newsletter issues here!
Featured Resource -
The Duct Tape Marketing System Workbooks
Web Site
Guide - Small business content based web site and search guide
-
Buy Workbook Only |
Buy Workbook and CD
In this workbook, we cover the basics of using a website to promote your
business. Notice that I didn’t say that we are going to discuss whether or not a
website is right for your business. If you don’t already have a website, heed
this warning: Harness the Internet or prepare to become obsolete.
In this workbook you will:
1) Learn how to create good web copy
2) Discover what web surfers want
3) Create a website that generates leads and sales
10 Essential Small Business
Productivity Tools
Online and offline utilities that
make running your business easier
 There
are a handful of tools and software utilities that I couldn’t imagine
doing without. Here’s my list of productivity tools that every small
business should embrace. I’ll list them by category and then give my
favorite.
Spam Blocking
Spam, buckets and buckets of it, can choke your inbox, disgust you and
allow bugs to creep in and take over your computer. Spam filtering and
blocking has become an essential small business tool. I use an online
service called
Spam Arrest. Once you get it set-up and trained it works very well.
You can upload your Outlook contact list to allow those folks to send
you email. The system does a great job of blocking the robot spam
because senders must verify that they are real before they can send to
you.
Virus Protection
Viruses come in many shape and forms and can range from annoying to
system draining to security risk to fatal. I use the original and still
the best in my opinion –
Norton. They
call these programs Anti-Virus but they have become full security
programs with firewall, system monitoring and adware fighting.
Feed Reading
Reading Blogs and RSS feeds is a fact of life – or should be - for
small business owners. Get all of your reading done in one place with a
feed reader. I use an online version known as
Bloglines –
free and very popular
PDF Creation
PDF files are the standard protocol for sending and receiving business
documents. Adobe Acrobat is a great program for creating PDF files but
does much more and cost a bunch.
Pdf 995 is a
free utility that allows you to create and save files in the popular PDF
format.
Project Management
Online project management is a great way to stay organized and an even
better way to offer a powerful collaboration tool to your clients,
vendors and teams.
Basecamp is
my tool of choice. It gives me everything I need to store messages,
communicate, share files and collect input with and from my clients. It
is like having a client portal instantly created with every new client.
CRM tool
CRM stands for customer relationship management but for the small
business the software and services in this category are really about
tracking sales opportunities and looking for ways to convert more sales
and do more business with existing clients. For this I like
ACT 2006. This
program, once set-up and mastered will allow you to automate many of
your marketing contact activity and make sure that every prospect gets
planned attention. There is an army of ACT consultants out there that
can help you customize the program for your business and I suggest that
you look into that option.
List Management
Capturing data from online visitors and beginning to educate them with
newsletters and white papers is a proven marketing strategy. I use a
service called
AWeber to manage my online mailing and email marketing efforts. I’m
also experimenting with a service called
Swiftpage
that integrates with ACT
File Sending
Sending big files can be difficult or even impossible through email
channels. I use a service called
DropSend to
upload very large files. The service then notifies my recipient that
they have a file to download.
Keyword Selection
Choosing the most popular keywords and search phases can be an essential
tool to help web surfers find your web site. It’s also a good tool to
employ as you write article headlines and blog post titles. By knowing
what words and phrases your prospects search for most often when looking
for your type of business you can begin to strategically lace your
writing with those terms. I use a free utility called
Good
Keywords to get a picture of what terms people are searching.
Spelling and Grammar
Sometimes you need a more powerful way to say something or maybe just
the right way to spell a word. I use a free utility called
WordWeb. The
thing I like most about WordWeb is that it doesn’t matter what program I
am using, I can still access it. Even surfing the web I can highlight a
word and get the word’s meaning and other useful information.
~ ~ ~
John Jantsch is a veteran marketing coach, award winning blogger and
author of
Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing
Guide
published by Thomas Nelson - due out in the fall of 2006
He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing
system. You can find more information by visiting
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com
You may reprint this article in its entirety if you attribute the article
to John Jantsch and include the information about the author above.
Duct Tape Coaches -
Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coaches - coming to
a town near you (already spanning the USA, UK and Canada!) -
FIND OUT MORE
The If you really want to take
your business to the next level hire a Duct Tape Marketing Coach.
Duct Tape Marketing Coaches can offer you personal and phone based marketing
coaching based on the Duct Tape Marketing Ultimate Marketing System.
The network of
Duct Tape Marketing Authorized
Coaches will become the recognized brand of small business marketing
coach.
Find A Duct Tape
Marketing Authorized Coach
Next Group forming for training in September 2006! To be notified
Email John Jantsch
List of SEO Resources -
I've compiled an entire page of resources to help you learn how to
optimize your web pages for better search engine placement locally and
nationally.
Featured Reading
Lead Generations for the Complex Sale - Boost the Quality and
Quantity of Leads to Increase your ROI - Brian Carroll
Brian does a great job in this
book of explaining the need for an integrated and systematic approach to
lead generation that involves coming at prospects from many different
educational angles. This is a great read for offline folks who sell
services and big ticket items.
I will feature Brian on an upcoming
Duct Tape
Marketing podcast
Featured Listening
In
The House- Audrey Auld Mezera & Nina Gerber
This album is a recording of a live concert given at Studio E just north of San
Francisco and is probably the best album you'll never hear much about. Mezera
has a kind of Eva Cassidy songbird voice and is a seriously good songwriter.
Nina Gerber is one of my favorite guitar players and the basis of the sound of
all of those great
Kate
Wolf albums of the mid 70s and 80s.
The intimacy of the venue and the connection between the artists is wonderful.
|
Featured Resource #1
The Duct Tape
Marketing Small Business Marketing System
This complete
small business marketing program contains 15 workbooks, 12 audios CDs -
packaged in a Duct Tape Marketing 3 ring binder. This is the same tool I
use to coach my clients.
Find out more.
Featured Resource #2 -
The Duct Tape Marketing System Workbooks
The Ultimate Marketing System individual workbooks and audios. 15
workbooks and 12 audios. Buy one or buy them all. $29 Workbook
only/$39 workbook and audio.
Individual Workbooks and Audio CDs
Featured Resource #3 -
Digital Version Now Available for Immediate Download
Referral Flood
- How to generate a flood of new business without spending one dime on
advertising
I just released a digital version that allow you to
download the 125 page ebook as a PDF file and MP3 Audios. I also passed
on the saving to you. The digital version is $79 (as opposed to $97 for
printed version) + no shipping
Resource
-
Get Local
Search Engine Traffic
Don’t Let Your Small Business Get Left
Behind in the Local Search Engine Game
Get your local business found online
automatically by local prospects with a Duct Tape Marketing Local Search
Engine profile. One of the best ways to get your business found in your
town by local prospects.
More
Featured Resource #3 -
Blog Lightning -
How To Create and Promote Your Blog In
A Flash
Drawing from my
experience creating blogs, including my award winning Duct Tape
Marketing Blog, I have launched a complete step-by-step guide that takes
you by the hand and shows you exactly what to do to instantly create and
promote a successful blog for your business.
You also get 14 video screencast tutorials that allow you to watch over
my shoulder as I actually do the steps I outline in the system - It does
not get any easier than this! -
Order Blog
Lightning
Featured Free Magazine
Request Your Free White Paper!
Fishing
for Leads with White Papers: Where to Drop Your White Paper Line
In
this white paper, you will gain valuable information on marketing with
white papers, and learn essentials to leverage this powerful lead
generation
Duct Tape Marketing
Podcast
Tune in each week as I
interview some of the brightest business experts, authors and
entrepreneurs. Subscribe and get the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast
delivered to your iPod or other mp3 player.
Listen Now!
|