How to Master the Art of Local SEO Marketing in Seattle If you are a local business owner in Seattle, you need to be on the web. The sooner you master the basics of digital marketing in Seattle, the sooner you will see a major increase in your profits. The time for you to get [...]
For those who are small business owners, establishing a brand can leave them with limited resources as traditional marketing can be a drain on their funds. That’s when social media marketing comes in hand.
Writing a business plan is the most important part of the process of starting a business. Even if you just quickly write down your thoughts and ideas for what you want your business to be, it's good to have something in writing so you keep your focus.
When starting a business, you will want to know what form of business entity to establish whether it be a Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation, S Corporation, or Limited Liability Company (LLC). Your form of business will determine which income tax return form you will need to file each year.
An assumed name, trade name or DBA name is a business name that is different from your personal name, the names of your partners or the officially registered name of your LLC or corporation.
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity.
Each state and locality has its own tax laws. I have added links below to key resources that will help you learn about your state tax obligations.
When setting up a new business, your tax documents can be overwhelming. We've outlined what you need to help you get organized and get started.
The Social Media Business plan is a tool designed to help enterprises create a business plan and to document projects relating to customer interaction management.
Sitelinks are essentially links to different pages on one website. If you search Google for a specific company, the company's website should come up as the first result.
Whether you are a diehard Twitter user or you couldn't live without your Facebook account, the odds are highly in favor that in the next five to seven years, your social media platform will find itself bereft of the young and on the long, slow crawl to the social media graveyard where Friendster and Myspace [...]
The use of location tools, targeted mobile advertising, and responsive websites can drive consumer traffic and dramatically increase sales if used correctly.
I highly recommend registering a domain and setting up your hosting with Network Solutions. Why? Well I have used them for many years as I set up my very first domain with them in 1997, and have been using them since. They have their issues, just as any host does, but the interface and ability [...]
When you're working with tech professionals you may have heard the three letter acronym "FTP" thrown around. Simply put, it's an age old system of transferring files through the internet, but it can be so much more. We'll walk you through what FTP is and how to use an FTP program to transfer files. What [...]
Your Domain Name The Domain name is the www.yoursite.com that users will type in (or will most likely show up in the search results). If you haven’t thought of one yet, throw some ideas around and come up with 3-5 that you really like. Chances are your first pick won’t be available, so it’s good [...]
Pokemon Go was released in July 2016, and quickly become one of the biggest mobile games of all time. While there has been some negatives in regard to the game that gets people out of their homes to chase Pokemon in real life, it's been a mostly positive experience for game users. About Pokemon Go [...]
It simply is not possible to move a business forward in today's digital landscape without linking yourself to all of the most widely used Applications and social media outlets. However, a new business or one that is just now opening the doors to such opportunities can find it to be a real struggle when it [...]
Are you interested in starting a business? Do you have a product or service that you would like to sell? The first step towards starting a successful business is writing a business plan. A well-crafted business is a critical step towards securing the funds to start your business and keeping your company on the road to [...]
The majority of marketers launched their social media programs because they believe that they need to and then scramble themselves in order to understand how it will be managed and how they will make it work. Unfortunately, many of them do this with no single marketing goal in mind or writing a social media marketing [...]
The future of the web certain looks to be headed in a social direction and our hometown of Bellevue, WA is becoming all to familiar with them.. These days, people go online to view videos and to interact with one another in ways that can't be matched by commenting on blogs or posting in forums. [...]
Want to Make a Splash on Social Media? The Top Seven Tips for Using Quizzes to Boost Your Appeal and Reach Do you work in content marketing? Are you a social media manager for a company? In this new year are you looking for new and creative ways to boost your reach on social media [...]
The first Google Penguin algorithm update was unveiled in early 2012. The update represented Google's first attempt to filter out strategies to manipulate its search engine results. Today, Google continues to tweak and update the Penguin algorithm to better refine search engine results for it's users. The next Penguin algorithm is set to deploy before [...]
Connecting with your customers is vital when you are writing sales copy, and you must use a proven system to create the sales copy. Sales copy that speaks to your customer base will help you increase sales, but you cannot connect to the customer base when you are not writing specifically for them. Your business [...]
Customers are the most important parts of a business because they are the ones who make sales and prosperity increase. A business that wants to increase its sales numbers and customer numbers will want to first give people reasons to stop and shop. The key is to get customers to listen. If people hear a [...]
Earlier in May this year Google announced on their blog that they would begin integrating tweets into their mobile search results. Now, that same feature is being rolled out introduced to desktop search results as well. Searching for names, topics, or the titles of businesses will now bring up search results that include tweets made [...]
Facebook is hands-down the most popular social media platform ever created. It continues to take credit for nearly half of all social media-based user visits each day. However, the fact that Facebook is free to use doesn't mean there is no cost to users. Each time you log in, interact with those in your network, [...]
Whenever someone visits your website or a Googlebot crawls one of your webpages, a request is received by your server and it responds to the request with an HTTP status code. The status code provides web crawlers with information about the status of the request as well details about your website and the page requested. [...]
Many companies today are struggling with the decision of whether or not to use Google Plus for business marketing. Yes, the social network is connected with the giant Google, which seems to control practically everything these days. And yes, there are many, many users who have Google Plus profiles. But how valuable is using Google [...]
Entrepreneurs are under a lot of pressure to succeed and are often under-appreciated. They put in lots of hard work, they care about the company, they have good ideas, they make sacrifices- and yet at times it seems that the business and those involved don't recognize their efforts. The key to success as an Entrepreneur is [...]
When it comes to sales, many people underestimate the power of branding. Often it is not an individual product that sticks in a customer's mind- it is a brand. Brands are what people see and remember from ads, and brands are what have personality and character. A brand is a visible sign of the company, [...]
Click through rates (CTRs) have been a big debate in determining how easy a company is ranked in search engines. With the recent debate about CTRs not being a factor can raise a few eyebrows. Google’s search algorithms change hundreds of times per year; is this a new debate to question how one’s company should [...]
The cornerstone of any successful business is its marketing. While things like a quality product and customer service are certainly important, marketing is what gives business owners the ability to reach customers in the first place. Marketing alone can determine whether a company succeeds or fails. With that in mind, below are seven keys to [...]
Ever since Google's Panda first "broke" the internet in 2011, the Google search engine algorithm has continued to make waves. With an initial goal to improve search engine results by filtering out low value websites, Panda met its mark nearly instantly, affecting an estimated 12 percent of all website listings and even earning itself a [...]
Modern people are fact hounds. We love collecting interesting data, and we trust hard numbers above all in a world filled with hyperbole. Data visualization makes data easy to access by turning data into an easily comprehended graphic. It is a valuable tool that should be a part of every content marketing strategy. Why does [...]
It's not every day you hear mobile marketing strategies compared to dating. Yet there's almost no better metaphor to illustrate the practices and mindsets that, when implemented, can help successfully boost your mobile presence. After all, you're looking to build long-term, committed relationships with your cliental. Why not take a leaf out of dating lingo? [...]
Social media is no longer a luxury for business in any industry. In order for a company to have a chance at viability in the coming years, it must have a social media presence that is both targeted and effective. Social media of all kinds has become the new word-of-mouth, and it is perhaps the [...]
The fact that we spend a lot of time with digital media is not surprising, but the amount of time the average American spends with them is. On average, the typical American spends 11 hours per day with electronic media. Since most people are only awake for about 16 hours per day, we spend a [...]
If your business is involved in activities supervised and regulated by a federal agency – such as selling alcohol, firearms, commercial fishing, etc. – then you may need to obtain a federal license or permit such as:[membership level="0"] [/membership] Agriculture Alcoholic Beverages Aviation Fish and Wildlife Commercial Fisheries Maritime Transportation Mining and Drilling [...]
The Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich In January of 2008, I was gainfully employed with one of the many technology corporations based in Redmond, WA (No it wasn't Microsoft). It was Concur Technologies, an expense management software company (you've probably used them while booking your business trip and/or filed your expenses). As you know, while working at companies [...]
