Las Vegas is still the worst place to be a homeowner, as home values continue to plummet. Here in Northeast Ohio, not so much. Kind of.
If you're one of the thousands of people in our area that's trying to sell your home in this economic climate, it probably feels like you live in Vegas. But, not because we have a new Horseshoe Casino!
The reason is simple; home values have plummeted here, too-just not as much....
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There's so much noise out there. I'm not talking loud music, or jackhammer noise....
I'm referring to the thousands of marketing messages that all of us, (including potential clients/customers of yours) are exposed to every day. It's too much sometimes.
There's one way that's been proven to add volume to your messaging; Email marketing.
That's right-as much as we hate getting emails (sometimes), sending a targeted message to prospective clients/customers who have agreed in advance to let you send them information right to their inbox--is powerful stuff.
How Powerful?
My friend, Matt Mansfield, of Matt About Business in Chicago, just put together a nice visual on Email newsletters. Check it out.
And, speaking of Email newsletters....you can subscribe to mine, free!
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Sunnyside Toyota has finished it's transformation; it's now officially a Toyota Image USA II designed dealership.
(Disclosure; my brother-in-law is the GM, and part-owner)
Recently, I paid a visit to this newly redesigned North Olmsted automobile franchise, and it was quite impressive.
Not only was everything all shiny and new, but there were a few special touches that I noticed.
One was the amazing customer waiting area.
After I personally checked out the seating comfort of the laptop-stand equipped chairs, I walked over to the to massive service department.
Not only was the entire area redone, but air-conditioning was added, so the Toyota-Certified technicians could have a comfortable working environment. Amazing.
When I was in the automobile business, adding air conditioning to a service department was never included in our Monday morning management meetings. Never. It's a nice touch that I'm sure come August, will be appreciated by the entire service team at Sunnyside Toyota.
There's a lot more to share, but I'm going to stop here.
Stop by Sunnyside Toyota and see for yourself.
MARKET YOUR BUSINESS ON MOBILE! In 5 minutes you'll get a mobile application for marketing your business.www.BranchMaps.com
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The Casino Is Almost Ready.
It's supposed to draw 13,000 visitors every day. Eventually.
It's opening soon.
Lots of people are expected Opening Day, according to Cleveland.com;
"The debut of Ohio's first casino isn't like a sporting event or the St. Patrick's Day parade, with ticket sales or history serving as a gauge of what to expect."
It's going to be very busy downtown.
Horseshoe officials moved back the opening time to accommodate concerns expressed by the City of Cleveland and their landlord.
The first to enter; 1500 Facebook Fans.
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Unless you're online 10 or more hours a day, (like yours truly) I really don't expect you to know a lot about some of the somewhat geeky things that I'm going to be writing about now, and in the future.
I hope you caught the post I wrote about your business website. If not, please read it. That way you'll know more about the topic below.
You may belong to an online forum, and not even know it. Don't worry; It's not like someone grabbed some of your private information and created an account on a forum somewhere. It's just that you may have forgotten that you signed up at one.
I belong to several online forums. They're mostly small business and franchise business related, like this one. Forums like that one are gooood forums. So, if you're interested in a topic like franchising, join it-it's free.
Are you an avid book reader? There are several online book forums just for you. Are you an avid bird-watcher. Join this bird forum.
Some websites are for the birds. If you happen to own a website that focuses on wild birds, songbirds, binoculars for birdwatching, or something else about our fine-feathered friends, the first thing that you need to do right now is...
Join an online forum that features things that have to do with birds. or, products that avid birders use. (And buy.) I'll share why in a moment.
Now, for those of you who feel that using the topic of birding as it relates to online marketing, forums, and backlinking is quite weak, check this out, from Audubon;
Did you know that birding is the number one sport in America? According to US Fish and Wildlife Service, there are currently 51.3 million birders in the United States alone, and this number continues to grow!
Now that you know just how huge birding is...
The main reason that you-as the owner of a bird-related website and/or blog need to join an online forum that focuses on birding is because it focuses on birding; in other words, it's a place that features content and real people talking about what's already on your website. It's a natural fit to what you already do. But, it gets better...
When you sign-up at BirdForum.net, you get to create an online profile. And, (this is huge) you can add a link to your own website in your profile. Now, your website has a backlink from that forum. And, search engines love to see that. Do you know why?
Because it's relevant. It makes perfect sense. Birding Forum-Birding Website. It's a natural, right? And, natural is gooood. (For search engines to help your site get noticed.)
A Tip; find a forum that aligns with your website's content, and join it. (Get active on it, too.)
Using the really weak birding website example above, I'm going to teach you a bit more about forums.
Let's say that in your search for more traffic and more backlinks for your bird-related website, you come across an online banner ad that says;
Get 1,500 Backlinks For Only $25.00!
Sounds like a great deal, right?
It's not, and here's why;
Most likely, those 1,500 backlinks are going to come from online forums. Now, I know that I just showed you an example of how cool it can be to join a forum, and that Google and Bing like them. But...
Not All Internet Forums Are Good
Some internet forums can actually be baaaad. Here's why...
Let's say that you bought those 1,500 backlinks for your birding website. A week or so later, you receive a report from the link company in your email inbox. You confirm that indeed, 1,500 links were built--or at least submitted for inclusion in the forums listed, so you're cool with the service. Except for one little thing;
You can't pronounce the names of almost half of the forums that are on the report. And the ones you can pronouce have absolutely nothing to do with birds. Or binoculars. Or even animals.
One more thing; a good number of the forums that are now linking to your site have a pretty good rank in most of the search engines. That's supposed to be good. You want backlinks from high-ranking websites. We all do. Except when they're not relevant.
1,500 backlinks to your birding website that are mostly non-english, and non-bird-related, are pretty darn worthless.
Which is why they were available for the low price of $25.00
Questions?
In the meantime, if you do own a website that has to do with business-you're own business, a business that you work with, take advantage of this Free Offer.
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Emerging Chefs is proud to announce ‘Snout to Tail™’ the first pig roast to be held at the Historic Dunham Tavern (www.dunhamtavern.org).
This is sure to be an amazing event with pigs being roasted on the grounds of the Dunham Tavern by Executive Sous Chef Melissa Khoury of Washington Place Bistro
Join Emerging Chefs and Chef Khoury on May 24 th – from 6pm to 9pm at the Historic Dunham Tavern to be part of a culinary experience of epic porcine proportions.“It is going to be an amazing experience of creating a pig roast in the middle of the city,”suggested Chef Melissa Khoury of Washington Place Bistro, “I want to share my passion for great pork dishes with everyone."
Tickets for the ‘Snout to Tail™’ event are $75 for the Chef’s Table and $65 for General Admission. All tickets can be purchased at: http://emergingchefs2012-3.eventbrite.com.
For additional information about Emerging Chefs, please contact Michael DeAloia.
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If you're the owner of a small business, you probably own a website, too.
You may have spent hundreds, or even thousands of dollars to get it looking just right. After all, you've been told that website design is really, really important. And, you've been taught right.
Unless nobody knows that your business website even exists.
Hundreds of thousands of websites and blogs are launched every week, and all of them are competing for attention from clients, customers, but more importantly, from search engines like Google and Bing.
How will they find yours?
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