Tuesday, November 29, 2016

How to rank better

From Axandra a good bit of information on how to rank better in the organic search engines.

1. How your website design influences the rankings of your web pages on Google


Good website design is important. Although there is no perfect website design that guarantees that Google will rank your web pages highly, there are several website design elements that can have a positive influence on the position of your web pages.
Good web design - better rankings
Make sure that your web pages are crawlable
Search engines won't be able to index the content of your pages if it is hidden in fancy scripts or images.
To make sure that search engines can index your content, use plain text and easy to follow text links on your page.
Both the regular content and the navigational elements on your web pages should be easy to parse for search engine robots. Style your pages with CSS and regular HTML tags. Do not hide your content in Flash or JavaScript.
Use responsive web design
Google is building a 'mobile first' index. Your web pages should look good on mobile devices. Of course, they should also look good on desktop computers. Responsive design is the easiest way to achieve that goal.
Responsive web design means that the look of your web pages changes based on the size of the browser window. This is done through CSS.
If you use a CMS (content management system) such as WordPress to create your web pages, chances are that you can install a responsive template quickly and easily.
Web pages that look good on mobile devices get better rankings in Google's search results for mobile devices.
Use an easy-to-understand website navigation
A good website navigation helps your website visitors to find what they are looking for. It also helps search engines to categorize your pages.
If the navigational elements on your web pages use texts that make it clear what the linked content is all about, it's much easier for search engines to rank your pages for that topic. For example, if a category on your website is about 'brown shoes', link to the category page with the words 'brown shoes' in the menu.
Also use a folder structure on your website that makes it easy to understand what the pages are about. For example, list all the pages that deal with the different variations of brown shows in a directory with the name '/brown-shoes/'.
Fast loading pages are good for the user experience
Some people say that the performance of a website is a major ranking factor. Of course, it's always good to improve the performance of your website. However, it won't improve your rankings much.
According to Google, only 1% of all websites need to worry about page load times. If your website belongs to these 1% of the slowest pages on the web, improving the performance will have a positive influence on the rankings. All other sites won't notice a major improvement.
Don't forget that fast loading web pages are good for the user experience. For that reason, your pages should load as fast as possible, even if this does not have a direct influence on your rankings.

More to come soon.

Joe Rossini
jrossini@rossini.com
www.rossini.com

Monday, November 28, 2016

How were cyber sales on BLACK FRIDAY and CYBER MONDAY

According to Adobe, Thanksgiving and Black Friday online retail sales exceed $5 billion. More noteworthy in some ways is that mobile devices contributed a record $1.2 billion to that total on Black Friday alone.
There was mixed data on in-store traffic and sales, with some sources reporting an initial decline vs. last year and others reporting small in-store gains. However, on a percentage basis, online shopping growth far outpaced store traffic.
While retail analysts and the media focus on the distinctions between online and offline shopping and the particulars and trends associated with specific shopping days — Thanksgiving vs. Black Friday vs. the horribly named Cyber Monday — consumers just focus on bargains and convenience. Individual shopping days have given way to “Cyberweek” deals, some of which started before Thanksgiving and continue this week. Many “Cyber Monday” promotions began yesterday.
Consumers are becoming much more agnostic about where they buy. Yet a huge percentage of online shopping is generated from the sites and apps of traditional retailers. This is one of the underreported stories of e-commerce today. As one example, Macy’s website was overloaded with traffic and unavailable multiple times on Black Friday.
Holiday shopping discounts are now typically the same offline and online, creating less urgency to come into stores. Accordingly, consumers are buying online from stores with physical locations so they can return products if they don’t work. Physical stores take the inconvenience and risk out of online shopping (with returns). These familiar retail brands also instill greater consumer confidence vs. many online pure plays.
Cyber Monday will exceed $2.5 billion in PC-based e-commerce and more than $1 billion on mobile devices, predicts comScore. According to estimates from the National Retail Federation, total retail sales this holiday will grow roughly 3.6, percent to nearly $656 billion. Much of that growth will come online.
This is from Greg Sterling  a great little article.

Looking at it see that phones are surging and will continue to surge in use and surfing and buying. You must have a responsive website so they can find you!  You should also consider a web app if you have a brick and mortar store to drive more sales and traffic.
The web is the new brick and mortar join it now! Call me or e-mail for more information.

Joe Rossini
jrossini@rossini.com

How was black fFiday and cyber Monday on the web?

According to Adobe, Thanksgiving and Black Friday online retail sales exceed $5 billion. More noteworthy in some ways is that mobile devices contributed a record $1.2 billion to that total on Black Friday alone.
There was mixed data on in-store traffic and sales, with some sources reporting an initial decline vs. last year and others reporting small in-store gains. However, on a percentage basis, online shopping growth far outpaced store traffic.
While retail analysts and the media focus on the distinctions between online and offline shopping and the particulars and trends associated with specific shopping days — Thanksgiving vs. Black Friday vs. the horribly named Cyber Monday — consumers just focus on bargains and convenience. Individual shopping days have given way to “Cyberweek” deals, some of which started before Thanksgiving and continue this week. Many “Cyber Monday” promotions began yesterday.
Consumers are becoming much more agnostic about where they buy. Yet a huge percentage of online shopping is generated from the sites and apps of traditional retailers. This is one of the underreported stories of e-commerce today. As one example, Macy’s website was overloaded with traffic and unavailable multiple times on Black Friday.
Holiday shopping discounts are now typically the same offline and online, creating less urgency to come into stores. Accordingly, consumers are buying online from stores with physical locations so they can return products if they don’t work. Physical stores take the inconvenience and risk out of online shopping (with returns). These familiar retail brands also instill greater consumer confidence vs. many online pure plays.
Cyber Monday will exceed $2.5 billion in PC-based e-commerce and more than $1 billion on mobile devices, predicts comScore. According to estimates from the National Retail Federation, total retail sales this holiday will grow roughly 3.6, percent to nearly $656 billion. Much of that growth will come online.
This was created by Jeff Sterling

Bottom line is you need a good website today if you are going to grow your business. If you sell in a brick and mortar store you definitely need a website and maybe e-commerce. The large tsunami of the web is coming be in the air above it and survive.

More to come soon.

Joe Rossini

Thursday, November 17, 2016

What can you do to increase your rankings?

I am asked this a lot, how can I get in the first page of the organic rankings of Google? Well first keep in mind that Google has for any given keyword search millions and millions of responses. If you want to be number one for a keyword like car then well my reply is "fat chance" Yes no dice unless you want to spend tens of thousands of dollars a month which most of you do not have. My first shot at answering this is you need an updated new responsive website! OK you say I have a web site well soon it wont matter to Google unless it is responsive or is new. Then you had better have good content and change it often. yes it means looking at your web site more and caring more. You should also keep your keywords internally updated and the web likes long tail meaningful keywords. So not just car but a red 1967 mustang! OK enough for now but a review:

Have an updated web site
Make the web site responsive
Have good internal keywords
Make sure you have good content

More to come!

Joe Rossini

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

SEO, social media and leads

There are many ways to get leads and it has been common knowledge that getting referrals from existing customers is a big YES to most of us salespeople. Go talk to them and ask them and give then something as a gift that usually helps.

More information:

Email seemed to lose favor with many marketers following the rapid rise of social media and content marketing. However, it seems that email newsletters have seen a recent resurgence and many companies are starting to use them as part of an integrated marketing strategy.
As far as I am concerned if yo do not over abuse this marketing tactic it can work.  YOU also can get valid e-mail opt in addresses to market to in the future.

“Local marketing is really important if you are a locally based agency. Face to face is always where you want to get to, because if somebody’s looking for someone local to them, it’s going to be because they feel better about working with someone that they can get in the same room as.” Tamsin Fox-Davies,  Constant Contact. That is an interesting comment coming from a giant in the e mail business but it is that e-mail that gets in front of a decision maker who you then follow up with a phone call to set up an appointment!

How long does it take to convert a lead?
Only 5% to 10% of qualified leads actually convert for the majority of marketers, so it’s important to keep track of their progress through your sales process. Agencies and consultants are usually faced with quite long buying cycles and, on average, it can take 84 days to convert a lead into a sales opportunity. OK people, think about that as I always do, it takes time so that sales funnel has to stay full!

Conclusion:The challenge for digital marketing agencies isn’t necessarily that they lack the skills to attract new clients, it tends to be that they don’t devote the same attention to marketing themselves as they do for their clients. Ideally there would be internal resource dedicated to business development, but for smaller agencies and consultants this isn’t always possible. Instead, a clear strategy is needed to ensure that the skills contained within the organization are utilized eff ectively for increasing sales. This involves a mixture of online and offl  ine channels, and knowing how each of these can be used to complement each other at diffe rent stages of the marketing funnel. Budgetary restrictions also mean that paid advertising won’t be an option for many agencies, but the opportunities presented by social media and content marketing can be a great equalizer. If an agency successfully fi nds a niche, it can use its expertise in that specifi c area to generate unique and insightful content. In turn this will result in credibility and, ultimately, attract clients. But attracting leads is only the fi rst part of the challenge. Converting those leads into clients is, perhaps, an even bigger one. In order to increase conversion rates, marketing agencies and consultants sometimes need to view the situation from the perspective of the client. Think about what it is that they would want to see rather than what you want to deliver. The client doesn’t know what effe ctt hisw ork will ultimately have on their business until it’s been tried and tested, so the initial focus should be establishing credibility and building trust. I can honestly say I am guilty of spending more time on my clients than I do on myself. I am starting to add more to me such as my blogging but I will not get away from helping my clients because they put the bread on the table.

Some of the above came from Constant Contact.\

Until next time!!

Joe Rossini

Send Thank you notes

I know this is so old fashion but believe it or not this will stand you out among the many you compete against. Remember even though sometime yu might not think it deep down there is a person in there with emotions. Sometime thank you notes hit a chord and it stays there. If the final judgement is a tie the winner might just go to that person who seems to have cared a bit more. Yes it takes time and yes it cost a stamp(remember them) and some cards but what is that worth weighed against a nice big juicy order.

Be differant, be proactive, work a bit harder than the other person and then you might just get that extra win that propels you over the top.

A short one but more to come later.

Joe

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

How can you get leads from your web site?

I have been asked this so many times and I always say the same things.

  • Fix your website (if it has not been touched in over a year update it)
  • Review your internal keywords (Words that people will search on for what yu have)
  • If you are not on social media get there you have to be there eventually
  • How about doing a PR release or two about new things about your products
  • Pass out that card, let people know who you are and make sure your website and e-mail is on it
  • Ask for referrals from your customers, they are your best source of leads
Well there is a lot more but it is late and I will do more tomorrow. If you need help write me at jrossini@rossini.com and I will try to help you. Let me know what you want me to talk about.

Until next time

Joe Rossini

A bit about rankings, PPC and native advertising

OK native advertising are not ads made by the natives in a country:) Native advertising however is growing fast and is replacing many pop up ads and traditional ads you have been seeing.  here is a bit more:

Native advertising is fast becoming a powerful digital marketing strategy, as traditional display and banner ads become less and less effective. With internet users increasingly ignoring overt sales tactics, average click-through rates (CTRs) for display ads have fallen over time to 0.17 percent, according to Google. In contrast, native ads enjoy much higher CTR and conversion rates, because they offer visitors more than just a hard sell.
A native ad is a piece of content that looks and feels like an editorial article. Advanced algorithms enable advertisers to dynamically position their native ads next to similar or related content on the web. Consumers are more likely to engage with a sponsored article that provides them with relevant new information than with a traditional banner ad, and they are more likely to share it with friends.
Website publishers can customize ad widgets on their site so the ads blend in seamlessly with their regular content. This increases CTR for advertisers — driving as much as purchase intent and brand affinity — and enables publishers to monetize their web traffic more effectively. CTRs for premium native ads can be two to three times higher than for banner, rich media or sponsorship ads, and mobile devices enjoy up to 4x higher CTRs than traditional, non-native display ads, according to the most recent Business Insider reports.
More than half the apps on Facebook’s Audience Network are now using native ads exclusively, and according to BI Intelligence Forecasts, native advertising will account for 74 percent of total display ad revenues by 2021, up from 56 percent in 2016.

Please look at that big of information that Facebook uses a lot of native advertising!  Remember what I have said about social media in some of my other posts! Social media is important.

The above information came from Search Engine Land.

More to come soon.

Joe Rossini

Google's mobile first policy change

Some days ago, Google announced that search search engines will be 'mobile first' in the near future. Google's search results will be based on the mobile versions of web pages, including the results that are shown to desktop users.  What does this mean to you and me?

The majority of searches on Google are done on mobile devices. Google wants to deliver relevant results to the majority of searchers.
Until now, Google has indexed web pages as desktop browsers see them. With the new 'mobile first' approach, Google indexes web pages as mobile phones see them. The rankings will be calculated based on the mobile websites.

What happens if you are not yet mobile friendly or responsive? Google says that you do not have to worry about this: “If you only have a desktop site, we’ll continue to index your desktop site just fine, even if we’re using a mobile user agent to view your site.”Of course, web pages that have been optimized for mobile devices get better rankings on Google Mobile than web pages that have not been optimized. For that reason, you should start working on a mobile version of your website now if you do not have one.

What can you do to get ranked on the new Google? Google recommends responsive web design. The content on responsive websites is the same on desktop computers and mobile devices. The layout changes based on the device that is used to view the content but the content is the same.Of course, you can also create a separate website just for mobile. In general, a separate mobile site is more work and more errors can happen.

I have said this many times get responsive and how you do this is have a company update your website! We can help you and it is not as expensive as you think! Let me know if you need a quote www.rossini.com.

More to come soon.

Joe Rossini jrossini@rossini.com
Some content courtesy of Axandra


Monday, November 14, 2016

This is a neat article from Google

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/strong-brands-be-there-useful-daily-lives.html


This has neat insights on how to succeed. I like it and will try to use it.  Do you want help? I am only a call or e-mail away.  jrossini@rossini.com

or 913-244-6132

Another further step in SEO and getting in Google

1. Provide value.

Google is looking towards AI and envisioning conversation as the next evolution of search technology. Google CEO Sundar Pichai even mentioned during the Google Assistant reveal, “We think of it [Google Assistant] as a conversational assistant; we want users to have an ongoing two-way dialog.”
Google needs a source of information for all of its conversations, a reference point, an expert friend, its trusty companion in the Wild West of the WWW. Become authoritative in your discipline, become the expert source that Google will reference in its conversations. Become that valuable source that drives connection, exchanges information, and provides visitors with some value.

  • Recommendation: Determine what you want to be known for. Answer the following questions, then create a killer organic search strategy based on your findings.
    • What are the types of keywords that you want to rank for?
    • Who is currently in that space?
    • What are they doing that makes them the expert?
    • How can you be 10X better?
    • Who is interacting with your content?
      • Are they existing customer or prospects?
    • How are users interacting with your content?
      • Are users converting?
      • Is this content targeting users early in the funnel (awareness and consideration) or later (conversion)?
      • Are they getting what one would anticipate out of the content (i.e. are they finding the answers they sought out by clicking on your content)?
    • How can you improve your users' experience with your content, including their customer journey throughout the site?
    • How can you reach your target better at every organic search touch point your customer encounters?
I ask my customers to give me key words that they want people to search for them on. Again you know  your business, tell me what people want to see. You are out there everyday, you hear what they ask for. I can no longer just take it for granted that a company does not know what people want to see. They know but perhaps they are just plain lazy to tell you! Those people in this Google age will be left behind! Am I mad? Yes because how many times have I had to look and see and tell these people what they need and that is part of my job but how much better would it be if you helped!

More to come

Joe Rossini

The big watch is on on what Google wants to see!

Here is I hope a start on how we try to follow the sometime erratic moves of the big G:

One of the ways that semantic search helps Google is by identifying and disqualifying lower-quality content. Methods like article spinning and keyword stuffing are more easily flagged due to advanced systems such as latent semantic indexing (LSI), latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), and term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) weighing schemes, which use term frequency and their predetermined weighted relationships to determine quality. This means that search engines have a good idea of what words statistically occur together and make semantic correlations, which can be used in the war against spam.
Using semantics and entity-based search, engines can gain a better understanding of what users may want. For example, the image below shows a simplified illustration of what the data in an entity-based search algorithm would contain. It includes entities (people, places, things, concepts, or ideas) which are represented as nodes, and connected by their relationships as the arrows. The diagram shows how entity-based search seeks to connect various entities, in this case the individual Simpsons characters, which creates more depth to search responses.

Think about it, the big G is now almost like a human brain only faster. it is calculating what you put on your web site to see if it is a good content or not. It is hard to try to trick the big G brain it is up there in the cloud and it is continuing to grow and grow. Remember skynet on the Terminator? I think the G net is getting closer to that than you know. How do you fight this? Well make good content for one and keep changing it often with good  better content.  Ok you could also try Bing and other search engines. Yes there are other search engines and I use them too. I even pay a small fee to get in some of those search engines, it is not much and may not help a lot but it does help.

Bottom  line is let me try to help you, I may not be able to but an updated web site will help who ever you use. Make good content if you can, tell people from the heart about your business, only you know it and don't tell me the bunk that you can't tell me, you know who you are and what you are. Tell the world why you started that business and the passion you once had and I bet you will see results.

Well back to work I go. I am passionate about helping you!

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Can you make a difference on social media?

This is a question I am asked a lot and that is can I make a difference if I use social media. I say most of you can but not all, Some things are really made for Facebook, sales of consumer goods in an affordable range is perfect for Facebook. I do not think that sales of some things are really not on there to sell like heavy machinery but are there to make a statement of to announce some things. People are consumers and if you have items that people might want like furniture, or a car, or jewelry. People like that. Facebook is also good to tell people your thoughts like about this election or about your feelings about issues. Sharing family pictures and to connect people is also neat. I recently added a neat new friend who lives in New Zealand  and without Facebook or the net how could I have ever met her and she is a really neat woman.

For business, I like LinkedIn this is where the big bucks and mover and shakers are. If you own a business be on LinkedIn it is or can be worth it. I join groups and participate. I think you will find it to be a bit more boring than Facebook or Twitter but well worth getting on board.

As far as Twitter, I find it to a steam blower offer social media. I do not sell on it, just listen it is kinda of fun. They are trying to expand Twitter and if they do it might grow more.

Blogging oh yes if you like to talk, this is a good choice. I hope  you do not mind my blabbing it can be funny or just kinda what the heck did Joe just say kinda of blabbing but I like it and I think you will too.

As always if you need help with social media visit www.rossini.com or text me I will help or try to help you!

One last thing, for all of you sci fi buffs, I have finished my first book about Mars, now to get it proofed and published. I will keep you posted.  Let me know if you want to be on a list to get a discount on my first publication. I am starting on book two now.

Talk soon.

Joe

Life in transition

Well the election is over but small business must start to think how will this affect me. I believe that the big boys are going to get stronger and get more breaks while us smaller people may not. What I am saying is you must work harder and smarter! Look at what the big boys are doing and maybe take a thing or two from their playbook. Use your web page more and strategically to gain market share. Use the tools that you have and can afford! The web can still tilt the playing field your way. Use a full deck of cards, use the phone, use the mail, use e-mailing, use social media and yes even cold calling.  Just because change is in the wind does not me that you can not shift with that wind and win!

More to come.

Joe Rossini

Have you ever thought of doing a PR release?

You know the old PR release is alive and well on the web. You can reach hundreds of people, news agencies and directories. The PR release can help you, it is part of my overall strategy to get you leads and sales.  If you have a new web page, or a new product, or your company has done something that makes you look good. You would be surprised what a PR release can do for you. I try to do pr releases every month. So if you want to reach out and touch a few people, let me know, I can help you.
What can a PR release do:

help you capture online audiences and gain traction in search engines. It is a powerful combination of search-optimized press release hosting and distribution via PR Newswire's online syndication network of more than 5,700 Web sites.*
Your news will be seen on the Internet's largest news sites (such as Yahoo! Finance, Bizjournals.com and Marketwatch), niche and localized Web sites and indexed by news engines including Yahoo! News and Google News.

What else?

From wikipedia:

press releasenews releasemedia releasepress statement or video release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something ostensibly newsworthy. Typically, they are mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to assignment editors and journalists at newspapers, magazines, radio stations, online media, television stations or television networks.

Well more later, call me or write me if yu want a PR Release!

Joe Rossini

Saturday, November 12, 2016

What good does it do me to have reporting on my web site?

Let me ask you if you have ever tracked your gas mileage that your car is getting? Have you ever tracked the time between and the miles since your last oil change? Do you ever step on a scale and track your weight Are you a diabetic and track your blood readings? Well then why not track your web site and see if it is doing you any good! Why not get a feel for who is coming to see your pages, where they are going and how much time they spend on the website. If you don't know some of these questions then how can you tell someone that your web page is doing good, I don't need help. If you are getting e-mails and leads well that is great but what if you want to make decisions on new or old products and see if it is being looked at.  We offer strong reporting and you will if you are a support customer get a report from me weekly!

More to come.

Joe

Can a small company succeed on the web?

When I first got on the net it was the shining light for the small guy, you could compete with the big boys. Yes for a while it worked and people who could afford to get a web page or use a program called front page got there. More and more people came rushing into the web and proclaimed it their savior but it would not be. Many started to forget how they got to where they were and skipped many of the traditional strategies they use to use. Then one day the big boys of the world woke up and decided that this web thing, it held promise, let us try it out.  They came and started to spend money, big money on the web and on multi media. Soon the search engines of the day and it was not Google at that time found that they could make more money with the big  companies.  So time has marched on and when you do searches today you may see some small companies yes but you also see the big companies and they are getting your information by hook or by crook and are using it to make their own strategies to sell to you and others.

So how can you compete in today's web you ask? Well for one thing make sure you have a web site that is up to date and in good standing with Google.  Yes I mention Google because let us face it they are for now the big company in the room so best to be on their good side. So make sure your web site is current and compliant. Our company can help you get there and it may be cheaper than you think. Also make sure you are on social media. I know many of you say I do not use it but trust me when I say it works. Google looks at social media too and the more your name is mentioned the better. Once again we can help you here and we have helped many companies get leads and make sales through the use of social media.

Blogging, well once again many want to stand out, stand out by telling people what you know and what can help them. If you are an expert in cars, talk about it. If you know about insurance, talk about it.  In short tell the world what you know. A good blog is neat and unless you are me:) should or can be stimulating and cause you to listen.  Oh yes they do not have to look blaa they can look like what one of my good customers Randy Rundle has a neat blog that looks nice and tells a story. Go see what Randy has done (of course with a little help from us:) https://fifthaveinternetgarage.blogspot.com/

Well that it is for today, I hope you like what I have to say:) Let me know tell me what you would like to see me writing about. Write me at jrossini@rossini.com.

Until next time!

Joe Rossini


Thursday, November 10, 2016

Now where do we go?

The bottom line is that we need to work hard, work smart, and be aware that brick and mortar is slowly giving way to specialty retailers.  E commerce, social media is the way we are moving and fast.  Applications on your phone is where people are looking not on their home computers. You must have a web presence that works on a phone and that also can do many things that a big web site can do and quickly. I believe that change is happening and fast and I do not mean the election! People are surfing and searching on their phones and if you are not there or if Google does not like your web page you are well screwed sort of.

Responsive design if the buzz word and your web page has to have it! Content that is relevant is also very important. Some feel just put up pictures or links, this is no longer true, Google likes change and likes responsive and like relevant content.

Put a web site up that offers your prospective customers a gift or something and also track them by having them sign up for an e-mail news letter or an end of year give away. Be relevant, offer examples, offer tips and see the leads and sales come in!

More soon.

Joe Rossini

How to suceed in todays tough business world!

We have been in business since 1994 yes 1994 in the web business, we knew Al Gore hehehe just kidding but we were there almost at the beginning. We have seen business come and go and many I can tell you came, made a big splash with big offices and lots of people then swish off they went into bankruptcy.  So you ask how have we survived? Well, we offer a good product or bunches of good products and that is important. Find a product that has a niche and one that hopefully you like to market and sell and then go for it. I recommend starting in your home or a very small office. I recommend you be a sub S or LLC for the protection it gives you legally. I recommend you keep employees to a minimum and contract out most if not all the rest so you do not have a lot of employment hassles or tax problems(please check with your accountant). I also recommend a good web site to start but you don't have to break the bank on it. I do not recommend the free ones they might work for a while but support might be an issue. If you can work another job first or co work that might be good so you can still survive and make some money as you grow. I don't absolutely love the business meetings or groups out there but at first this might not be bad to go to a few but refrain from joining unless it is very cheap. You might go to a few chamber of commerce coffee meetings but once again joining might be cost prohibitive and may not really help you the small business person. I find a lot of accountants, banks, cities, and insurance agents at these meetings.

So you have a product that hopefully people want or a service. You have a place to work, you have basic business equipment (your computer or laptop) now you are ready to move and to sell!

More to come on this topic. If you have any questions just write me at jrossini@rossini.com.

legalization of marijuana in four additional states

The Economic Impact

With the legalization of marijuana in four additional states, there is no doubt that there is now a significant opportunity to grow the economy. For states, it’s time to take dollars back from the black market and move that money into the tax base. Legalization could also lead to redeployment of police, courts, prison work forces, and more. Importantly, it guarantees job growth.
Nowhere is the economic impact of legalized marijuana more obvious than California and the enormous economic powerhouse that the “West Coast Bloc” of California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada has created.
First, think of it this way. The population of California is greater than 39.1 million, and more than 30 million of those residents are adults. The consumer potential in this one state is massive.
Next, consider the size of California’s economy. The state of California has the sixth largest economy in the world behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the U.K. You read that correctly. The state of California’s economy is larger than every country’s in the world except for five. Business Insider reports that legalization of marijuana is expected to add at least $1.5 billion in revenue to California by January 2018 and another $4 billion by 2020.
Finally, think about how many jobs the expanded marijuana industry could create. If just 2% of the adult residents of California purchase recreational marijuana, that’s over 6 million customers that need to be served by workers in the marijuana industry. The number of employees who will have to be hired could be in the hundreds or thousands across the state. Furthermore, more workers and resources will be needed to serve marijuana businesses. In other words, more picks and shovels are needed to keep up with the new gold rush.
The above only focuses on California. Add the 16.2 million adults in Florida and include Nevada with its goal to turn Las Vegas into a cannatourism hot spot, and it’s clear that both legalized recreational and medical marijuana will have far-reaching effects.

I know this has just now nothing to do with business or the web but soon very soon social media and a weed business near you may grow and with it jobs and money

Things your business should think about!

Listed here are 5 steps that all businesses should think about:

  1. Distinguish your objectives and monitor them accurately: Take into account the best business goals of your website and determine particular visitor behavior that point out success, such as completing a sale, registering for a newsletter, or seeing an essential page. Then build goal monitoring to find out how visitors are achieving those objectives. You may also allocate some money to every single goal to determine how it’s affecting the main thing, or build ecommerce monitoring to incorporate online sales information.
  2. Turn into a conversion investigator: Businesses invest a lot of hard work getting individuals to visit their website, therefore if your website visitors aren’t transforming or reaching your goals, it’s vital that you understand why. There might be a variety of elements, like a lot of required actions to ask for a quote, call-to-action icons which might be not big enough, or very poor positioning of your opt-in list sign-up button. Discover exactly what conversion metrics require improvements, and experiment with your website’s written content and design to see what works most effective. For more details, check out conversion rate optimization.
  3. Check out your bounce rates: This represent individuals who’re browsing one page on your internet site and after that leaving instantly afterwards. This might indicate that they’re not getting what they really want immediately. Take into consideration what details your customers could possibly be looking for, like contact details or links to special offers, and ensure it’s in the forefront on your website. Bounce rates may also tell you how successful your marketing strategies are. For example, if you’re managing an email marketing campaign but discover that they’re leading to visits with higher bounce rates, you’ll probably be wasting time and cash.
  4. Find out significant visitors’ locations: The World Wide Web can bring in even a small community business to potential prospects all over the world, so you may be amazed at what viewers are most interested in your services or products. Have a look at the countries, regions and provinces where your internet site viewers are originating from – it simply might encourage you to manage an ad campaign aimed at reach buyers in US, or begin a special campaign for your fans in UK.
  5. Make the best of mobile visitors: Increasingly more individuals are exploring the internet on the go using their smartphones, so invest some time finding what percentage of your site’s website visitors are generated from a mobile phone. Could they be viewing various pages, staying for a long period, or bouncing out promptly? A local diner may wish to know if mobile visitors are easily finding data such as hours of operation, food selection and location – because if they’re not, they might be going elsewhere. When you need assistance making your internet site mobile friendly
This info was from LinkedIn

Friday, November 4, 2016

Sometimes no matter what you do, it is not enough

Sometimes you do everything right, you work hard, you put everything into a project or customer and you still end up losing. Remember that not all customers are actually good customers. Yes you hear me right, some are not good because they are poor payers, or they constantly are unhappy no matter what you do for them or more. Sometimes it is good when they leave, let them go in peace and do not look back but look forward to working hard for your good customers and know that they are the ones that will stick with you and will also cause you to smile that you have them as a customer.

More to come..

Joe