5 Tips for Making More Money with Pinterest

Pinterest is no longer just for pinning recipes; a quick look at the numbers proves that ignoring it means turning your back on buyers! Today, Pinterest has over 20 million active users, and those users spend an average of over an hour per visit to the website. Even more important for marketers, look at these stats--81 percent of online consumers say they trust information they find on Pinterest (BlogHer stat), 69 percent of those consumers have found something on Pinterest that they have bought (Bizrate stat), 20 percent of social referrals to ecommerce sites come from Pinterest, people spend more on average (All Facebook stat) and more than 70 percent of Pinterest users are right here in the United States(Business2Community stat.)

It is pretty clear that Pinterest users are looking for more than cute puppies and pictures of desserts. Pinterest users are extremely receptive buyers as well. Make the most of Pinterest with these tips:

These Two Simple Things Will Keep You Out of Google Jail

•                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              We've seen lots of Google smackdowns over the last five years...first there was Panda in 2011, then Penguin in early 2012...since then, there have been a number of smaller algorithm changes.

Last week, we saw a Penguin "update" which targeted spam links and junk websites. On this one, I say more power to them for taking out the trash! 

Google is trying to make everyone play by the rules, and where there are rules, there are always rule-breakers!  However, we need to keep in mind that 

"He who has the gold makes the rules."

Local Marketing for Small Businesses

Do you have a brand-new business or one that needs some help in the marketing department?

Chances are, some local marketing would be helpful, regardless if your business is a mom and pop restaurant, a family-owned pressure washing business or a computer networking company. Because our world today is so small, some business owners overlook their own backyard. That is a big mistake!

We all know that people do business with other people that they like. Think about it--- if you walk into an establishment, and they are rude-- are you going to spend any money there? Chances are you will not, unless it's a government office like the DMV! On the other hand, if you get a warm welcome, and great service, won't you be inclined to return frequently? I love our local hardware store for this exact reason. Sure, I could go to one of the big stores and save a few pennies, but I prefer to give my business to the kind gentleman that finds me the exact doohickey I need.

Twitter Marketing that Works

Twitter has been around since 2006, and started out as a simple text messaging service that allowed small groups to easily communicate. Since 2006, it has grown globally to the point where there are now 974 million Twitter accounts, and while not everyone is active on the platform, it is still an important one for businesses. Like all social media, success is based on the right strategy. How can you use Twitter to benefit your business?