In today's digital landscape, a strong online presence is crucial for small businesses to thrive. However, achieving high search engine rankings, particularly on Google, can feel like a complex challenge. I love helping small business increase their search engine optimization, so today I’m covering three actionable SEO strategies specifically designed for busy small business owners. Try implementing them today to reap long-term benefits!
Read MoreWhile I have mostly concluded my photography career, I still have both my professional camera equipment and a love of taking pictures. I do not miss giving up my weekends to photograph weddings, but I do miss connecting with new people through photography, and I miss the creativity that is sparked when I get behind the lens. I have never been an artist - administration and organization are definitely bigger strengths - but I developed a good eye and solid technical skills as a photographer that I miss utilizing.
I was thrilled, then, when I received an inquiry from a professor at Fresno State University who wanted updated headshots for LinkedIn and some other purposes…
Read MoreToday, let's dive into another blog post aimed at helping you master SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your small business’ online presence. Today I’m focusing on one key aspect that most business owners are not even aware of that can help search ranking rankings: image naming.
Read MoreSearch Engine Optimization is not a flashy, exciting topic. It’s technical, detailed, and requires a lot of work before you will be able to see or measure true growth. Once you do start to improve your SEO, it is a continual work in progress to stay at the top of the game.
The truth is, a lot of small business owners and creative entrepreneurs do not prioritize SEO, and I can completely sympathize with that sentiment. For most people who have other areas of expertise, it may seem above their heads and not worth diving into when the short-term gains are usually minimal.
On the other hand, I have seen firsthand how powerful SEO can be for a small business. When I first started my photography business in an area that was new to me, I worked on this side of my website…and when the growth finally came, it took off in ways I never would have expected. If you’re on the fence and wondering why SEO is important for your small business, here are 5 compelling reasons I would invest in it all over again:
Read MoreThe most common question I get about Google Ads is “what should my ads budget be?” There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, because it depends so much on each business and industry. The better question to answer is: “what would make Google Ads successful for me?” Is it a certain amount of phone calls or website leads per month? Is it a certain number of downloads from your website? It could be based on purchases of a particular item, traffic to a page on your site, or even ‘get directions’ clicks to your store. But without knowing your intended target, budget is truly not the main concern for a Google Ads account…
Read MoreAs I continue to build my Google Ads client base, I have taken on a lot of already-existing accounts, some that have been up and running for years. Often, I am hired because the account quality and performance drops, either all at once or over the course of many months. One day, many business owners realize they do not know how to effectively run their ads, and it begins to show in the results.
As Google realized this - the presence of a lot of business owners who want ads but do not know how to manage them - they started to provide calls with ‘experts’ to diagnose issues and ‘optimize accounts.’ I decided to hop on a call with one of these experts, and I personally was less than impressed. On the one hand, I’m sure they have a lot of ads knowledge, and have been trained by Google…but on the other hand, they do not know YOUR business or YOUR goals, so any advice should be taken with a grain of salt.
One thing they will advise in a lot of cases is to use the ‘Auto-Apply’ feature under Recommendations. Please, do not use auto-apply in Google Ads. Here’s why.
Read MoreWhen I talk to a new client, the first thing I do is spend some time on the phone with them to get to know their business a little better, and to try and determine the best approach to begin. I say that very intentionally. Most of the time I get the strategy right, but not always…and that’s where testing and figuring out the best approach comes in. While I don’t make clients sign long-term contracts - small business owners don’t need more stress on their plates! - I do recommend sticking with my services for at least 3 months to see if they’re actually working, because nobody bats 1000 from the very beginning.
I met Joanna of Land Income at a business networking event with the Visalia Chamber of Commerce, and she mentioned the possibility of marketing her business. When she explained to me what she and her husband do, however, I was hesitant at first since I had never advertised in that space before. Land Income sells farmland investments that provide long-term growth and gains for their investors. This was all new to me, and I never promise to help someone if I don’t truly believe I can…
Read MoreIf you haven’t yet dived into Facebook ads, I’ll help you out a little bit: there are a ton of different options, not all of which are obvious from the outset. The basic categories of Meta ads are awareness, traffic, promotion, engagement, leads, app promotion, and sales. Within each category are infinite options based on audience targeting, ad copy, final destination, and more. I have experimented with almost every single different kind of ad with varying degrees of success…
Read MoreKasey, the designer at Pen + Posh, is the kind of businesswoman I strive to become in so many ways. I’ll let her words tell her story:
“With a formal education in marketing, and combined background in Internet Marketing and graphic design, Kasey launched her first Etsy shop with zero followers to her name. She was able to rise to the top 1% of shops selling on Etsy, replacing her corporate income, in the first 6 months after launching. The Pen and Posh SVG shop has earned over six-figures in revenue, 54,861 sale orders and 3,000 average five star reviews!
The best part? Every single sale is automated, giving her time to care for two feisty toddlers and live the flexible lifestyle she once thought only existed for others…
Every business owner needs a professional headshot at some point, even if you do not own a service-based business. Showing your brand’s unique personality through its team is a great opportunity to set your business apart from other competitors. From countless interactions with entrepreneurs all over the Central Valley area from Fresno to Visalia and beyond, I know that a lot of business owners take a one-and-done approach, never updating their first headshot…
Read MoreSeveral months ago I was connected with two hard-working realtors in the Hampton Roads area who were branching out on their own to start a new endeavor called Mission Realty Group. Not only did they need a new website for their own business, they wanted to create a hub where all the agents who serve Mission Realty could have an online home. So I set out creating two websites that would be unique but complement each other well.
Read MoreI rarely share personal updates here, but this blog has been a very long time coming. For those who don’t know me personally, here’s a quick recap:
In November during a run, I felt a lot of pain in my hip, and not in a normal achy type way. I knew there was something wrong. After a few weeks off and no improvement, I went to a sports doctor and was diagnosed with a stress fracture.
The marathon I had trained so hard for (California International Marathon in Sacramento) was out. I started cross-training, mostly on the bike.
On November 26, two days after Thanksgiving, I was biking back from the gym when something flew into the road, I flipped over the handlebars at about 20mph, and landed in the hospital with a broken jaw, broken nose, concussion, missing teeth, and 17 stitches on my face. It was one of the hardest and most surreal things I’ve been through.
One thing I love is seeing so many people start, grow, and run successful small businesses. In the years following my graduation from Virginia Tech I lost touch with a lot of my former classmates, as is fairly normal when everyone charts their own path and moves around the country.
This summer, I had the absolute joy of reconnecting with my friend Dr. Kendra O’Hora, who owns a therapeutic and educational practice based in Bel Air, Maryland, called Wellness & Co. The mission at Wellness & Co. is to provide top-notch wellness services from a place of passion and purpose. Their team of qualified and compassionate therapists meets the needs of couples both local to Hanford County, Maryland, and virtually all across the country.
When Dr. O’Hora contacted me, she just had a few basic questions about Google Ads…
Read MoreBack in 2022, the owner of The Plush Flush contacted me for marketing help. His company rents and delivers luxury, portable bathroom trailers for weddings, corporate events, and other private functions when bathrooms are not readily accessible or the available options are less than the high standards desired by his clients. At the time, his company was running some Google Ads with limited success, and he wanted to improve his ads results as well as the overall search engine visibility of the website.
Here is what I did, as well as the results and how I was able to help the business’ online presence.
Read MoreI think all of us tend to play the ‘what if’ game from time to time, or even on a daily basis. We play mental games to try and prepare ourselves for the worst case scenarios…
What if I lose my job or my business fails?
What if that person never speaks to me again?
What if I messed up in too big of a way to ever come back?
What if…the list goes on, and I’m sure you have no trouble filling in the blanks with your own fears and worries.
Normally I sign up for a few races per year, maybe a marathon or two, and stick to daily training. This summer, though, I went all in on more races than I ever have before - and my feelings are honestly pretty mixed. I am incredibly proud of what I did, but I’m not sure if I ever want to do it again! Either way, I walked away from these past few months winning every single one of the four races I entered, with the fifth race (mercifully, in some ways) canceled, and two more on the horizon. Here’s what happened…
Read MoreMarketing options are absolutely endless, and it’s just one of so many business decisions you need to make every month, week, and day. I have felt overwhelmed at times trying to juggle everything, from taxes to advertising to client relationships and more. At the end of the day, though, the question is simple: what is the best thing you can do for your small business?
Luckily, in terms of marketing, the answer is even simpler. It’s not about the exact right amount of money spent, or even the perfect design for your website. It’s all about who your customer is. So, in short, the answer to the question is this:
Read MoreAt one point in my life, I completely lacked discipline. That’s hard even for me to believe, let alone those who have only known me as a very driven person (read more about that here). Yet it turns out that discipline is a thing that can be built, practiced, and grown as time and life go on, and I’m extremely thankful that I had great example of this all throughout my life.
My definition of discipline, though, has changed as I’ve gotten older…and hopefully a little wiser…
Read MoreAs I think back on the questions I often get asked - from running shoe recommendations to what Search Engine Optimization means and everything in between - there are a few topics that consistently come up as they relate to me personally. One big topic of conversation I am often pulled into is how I stay motivated every day to train so hard in running and manage my business while being a mom and living a (hopefully) pretty balanced life.
Naturally, I have been asked a lot how I ‘do it all’ and continue to grind every single day, tired or not, so I’ve given this topic a lot of thought over the years. Here is how I stay motivated every single day, and I hope the takeaways give you motivation for the next task you have to tackle:
Read MoreRunning Google ads is anything but easy, even if Google tries to make it simple to set them up in the first place. I covered in my last blog what exactly a Google Ads manager does, but if you aren’t yet ready to take the leap, here is one simple way to improve your ads on Google and increase your clicks without straining your budget…
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