[heading_3][dropcap type=”simple”]A[/dropcap]s small business owners we are sometimes the most hypocritical buyers. We want everyone to buy from us, but how many of us support local business ourselves? We need to make it a point to buy more of our office products and business services from local providers. If we all supported local business the way we want others to support our business, we’d all be growing rapidly.[/heading_3]

[subheading_2]Buy Local[/subheading_2]

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• For every $100 spent in a locally owned store, $45 stays in the local economy as compared to every $100 spent in a Big-Box Chain store, only $15 stays in the local economy.
• Local businesses are more accountable to their own communities.
• Supporting local businesses contributes to a community’s character and economic diversity. One-of-a-kind businesses are a distinctive part of the character of a community.

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[ddownload id=2065] the Buy Local infographic for more information on Buy Local Campaigns.

[subheading_2]Review products and services for your favorite places[/subheading_2]

[dropcap type=”simple”]D[/dropcap]on’t just tell your friends about it, tell other people about it too. Sites like Yelp are great, but  a public post on Facebook where you share you experience and share it on the Fan Page of the business that you’re giving props to in order to share the louve with them as well. Instead of giving big business all the publicity when you click like on Facebook, Share the Louve for your local small businesses as well.

[subheading_2]Support Crowd Funding Campaigns[/subheading_2]

[dropcap type=”simple”]I[/dropcap]f anyone knows how difficult it is to get funding for a small business expansion or start-up, it’s small business owners. Banks are not doling out funds no unless you have tons of collateral, wads of cash tucked away in your seat cushions or your wealthy uncle has decided to give you your cut of the estate before he dies, funding your new business venture, or even an old business venture for that matter, can be a little discouraging if you’re still trying older methods of finding start up capital.

This is why crowd funding has taken off. Companies like Indiegogo, Kickstarter and FunderHut have created a platform that allows you to raise the money you need without the financial pressure of a small business loan because it’s not a loan. Other benefits of crowd funding are:

[dropcap type=”square” bg_color=”#39ce63″ text_color= “#ffffff”]1[/dropcap] You don’t have to part with equity. You can incentivize contributing to your campaign by way of rewards, perks or kudos depending on your platform.

[dropcap type=”square” bg_color=”#f255d6″ text_color= “#ffffff”]2[/dropcap] It’s a great way to see if your idea is a business or a hobby. As a start up crowd funding allows you to see who your early supporters are and who will become your brand evangelists, or if you need to go back to the drawing board.

[dropcap type=”square” bg_color=”#994cd7″ text_color= “#ffffff”]3[/dropcap] You can build a great fan club. If contributors really believe in your venture, they will share it with others and your list of brand evangelists just grew.

Indiegogo and Kickstarter were both nominated for TechCrunche’s 6th Annual Crunchies Award  in the “Biggest Social Impact” category. Congratulations to Indiegogo for the runner-up finish–Reddit won this category. Campaigners have nothing but great things to say about the awesome effect that Indiegogo has had on the success of their small business dreams.

The major challenge for a small business promoting a crowd funding campaign is reaching beyond the personal network and driving organic traffic via the social media platforms and finding the best part of the story to tell; the part that encompasses the crucial elements that speak to why we do what we do and why we need the help that we need. Check out our crowd funding campaign on Indigogo to see the types of campaigns you can run.

[subheading_2]Volunteer [/subheading_2]

[dropcap type=”simple”]C[/dropcap]heck out the small businesses in your area and see what causes they support. If it’s not listed on their website call them and ask. If you’re participating in a marathon or any charity event, talk with a local business and discuss a potential partnership. This has the potential to be mutually beneficial and from a business owner perspective you’re sure to land a loyal customer with this kind of support.

[subheading_4]What are some others ways you can see yourself supporting local business? Chime in below and let us know.[/subheading_4]

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Last weekend Johnny Manziel, or Johnny “Football” as the college world knows him by, was announced as the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner. What is so significant and special about this year’s award is that it was between a defensive player, Manti Te’o, and the freshman quarterback, Johnny Manziel (Sorry Collin Klein, it wasn’t in the cards). The reason it was so unique was because both soon-to-be legends had back stories that put them in line for the coveted trophy.

So what does the Heisman have to do with your blog? It should set the standards for the content you have in the blog post  The blog’s first paragraph needs to be intriguing enough in order to get the reader to want to continue reading. After you’ve hooked them the rest of the blog should be beneficial to the reader in the area you are emphasizing on. Below are three key tips to increase your blogs content value.

Relevant: Make your content topical.
If it is being talked about by others it is going to generate more leads through Google’s keyword search. If you’re still trying to compare Rebecca Black’s Friday Song to Viral Marketing you need to do some more recent research to capture the audience’s attention.

Informative: Excuse me, but your content is showing.
Make sure you create content that is worthy of being re-blogged  If you don’t think it is worthy of a Heisman Trophy in the blogging world then it shouldn’t be posted. Maybe a tweet or a Facebook post would be more appropriate. This should be the most important part of your blog and the content that highlights the title.

Short & Sweet: 400 words or less.
With sites like StumbleUpon and Reddit, content is constantly being clicked through at a rapid rate. Your blog should not be a novel, it is considered a blog because it is a short article on the internet. Nobody likes to click on a creative title and see that they have to cancel their plans for the rest of the day. People have short attention span and the internet’s is even shorter, keep the content informative, but brief. It will have much more of an effect than the latter.

Facebook is something we all have in common, because everyone has one. After you meet someone for the first time, it is acceptable to add them as a friend on Facebook. Even if it is likely that you will never meet that person again, you can always go back and “catch up” with them by viewing their profile. Most of the time, unless you really interact with them online, their stories and posts will rarely appear on your newsfeed. This is because Facebook uses an algorithm called “Edgerank” to determine exactly what’s on your feed by what you do most on Facebook (view friend’s photos, comment or like certain posts, profiles you view). Edgerank is calculated by Affinity (relationship with you and the friend), Weight (The value of the post), and Time Decay (How long the post has been up). This formula keeps your 500+ friends in a filter with only the most relevant stories appearing on your special wall.

Now, what if the person you met one time started appearing on your feeds all the time, yet you never viewed their content nor did it gain a lot of activity. Somehow, you keep seeing their irrelevant posts and you cannot understand why. As of October 3^rd that can begin to happen to your Facebook. Recently, the social media giant has said they have given Facebook users the opportunity to pay for promotional ads. For $7 a post, you can make sure everyone is laughing at the same meme, viewing the cutest kitten photo, or have a general understanding that you thought the Avengers was “neat”.

Facebook has received mixed feedback from beta users, but businesses see this as another way to promote what they sell, to what you view the most. According to Jeff Bullas, a Social Media Specialist, 27% of your time spent on Facebook is devoted to reading your newsfeed. In his infographic, he explains how to organically reach users by using the Edgerank algorithm. Although, if the promotional ads catch on, any company you have “liked” will be able to sit at the top of your newsfeed as if they were your best friend. Some people are fond of putting it all out there, others find it obtrusive. How do you feel about this new policy on a professional or personal level? Feel free to express your opinions in the comment box below.

A lot of websites use different types of tactics to attract customers. Some ways are obvious such as ads or offering special discounts, but others are much more subtle. One of the ways to intrigue customers without shoving it in their face is a Call-to-Action button. Though the name might not be familiar, it’s something you see on many pages. The Calls-to-Action, or CTA’s for short, are buttons on a site that link the visitor to another webpage called a landing page. The landing page is the final page you want your customer to see before they commit to some part of your company.

For example, let’s say you are trying to get a potential customer to subscribe to your email list. Here are the proper steps to take to add an effective CTA:

1) Create a page that has content to interest the visitor to continue reading on and subscribe to your email list.

2) Have a CTA on the page that is a clickable link to the email sign up landing page.

3) Make the CTA appealing, but not too distracting. When in doubt use a shade of green, it gives the feeling to go.

4) Test! Test! Test! Make sure you test the CTA so that it links to your final landing page.

The Gameplan: When it comes down to making a game-time decision; the attractiveness of the Calls-to-Action are important, but what you say is vital as well. Make sure you stay away from using phrases like: Click here, Check it out, or Submit. These CTA’s can come across as boring or pushy. Instead, use phrases like: Learn More, Sign Up Today, Look Inside, or Continue Reading.

Consumers in America are so addicted to their social media networks that they would rather get a root canal than surrender their social network profiles.  Their main reason? FOMO: fear of missing out.

Social media marketing is growing in importance for small businesses. Seventy-three percent of small businesses are using social media to get their messages out because it enables instant connections with clients, customers and potential employees

How strong is that compulsion?  Nearly 40 percent of the respondents agreed they would rather do any of the following than give up their social networking profiles:

• Wait in line at the DMV
• Read “War and Peace”
• Do their taxes
• Give up an hour of sleep each night for a year
• Run a marathon
• Sit in traffic for four hours while listening to polka music
• Get a root canal
• Spend a night in jail
• Clean the drains in the showers at the local gym
• Give up their air conditioner/heater

Shocked?  Millennial social media users (between 18 and 34 years old) have an even worse case of FOMO. More than half of them – 54 percent – would undertake one of these onerous activities rather than give up their social media profiles.

Go ahead, read between the lines.  That means your customers are constantly using social media to interact with each other.  If you are not using social media to interact with your customers, you are missing out.

“Consumers are bombarded with so much information online—from status updates and photos to tweets and check-ins—that our anxiety around ‘missing out’ has shifted to our digital lives,” said Jeff Tinsley, CEO of MyLife. “The fact that many people would rather run a marathon or spend a night in jail than give up their Facebook or Twitter account is proof positive.”