SEO Services UK

SEO Services UK
The first thing in the mind of the uninitiated may be the
questioning of what on earth we mean by SEO services. UK
websites are in need of search engine optimisation services
as much as any other, within their local area. SEO
services UK refers to search engine optimisation within the
UK marketplace, which in a nutshell is ensuring that a web
page has the highest possible position in UK searches for
its most important keywords. Keywords are exactly what
they sound like - the key words, those of most value, the
words which a surfer would use when searching for your
services on the web. Anyone offering SEO services in the
UK should be looking for the "long tail" keywords, and by
optimising a site for the UK it could be argued that he is
already in the realms of the long tail, because the UK is a
much smaller market than the global or US markets.

Long tail keywords are those which might not have the most
searches, but which hopefully have less competition up
against them in the search engines too, so they are more
specific and target a particular "niche".

For example, it may be difficult for someone offering SEO
services in the UK to guarantee a client that he can get
his site in a high position on the keyword "diet" as there
are a huge amount of competing sites. As soon as he has
targeted "diet uk" then that has narrowed down the
competition (and the searches) and if he is targeting
"chocolate diet uk" then he is travelling further down the
route of the long tail.

The absolute gold in SEO services is to find a keyword for
which there are a reasonable number of searches per month
but little or no competing websites.

Directory submissions are another string to the bow of the
offerer of SEO services. UK directories are again smaller
in number than global, but still the more localised and
targeted the better.

Other SEO services UK site owners would appreciate include
article writing, blog and forum posting etc. These are
designed to get a website interacting with others, which is
the name of the game. Good content on the site brings
incoming links; both of which are fundamental SEO services.
UK websites should ensure that they have good content which
relates primarily to the British market or reader (without
American spellings and idioms) and link to and from UK
authority sites. The better the content the more people and
sites will want to link to your site, and the higher up you
will travel in the search engines.

----------------------------------------------------
For more about small business web site design please visit
http://smallbusinesswebsiteservices.co.uk/
Ray & Dianne Davies have been employed full time with their
Internet based business since 1999.

7 Questions That Could Double Your Profits

7 Questions That Could Double Your Profits
For most business owners and independent professionals, the
key to success is attracting more customers willing to pay
higher prices.

It sounds simple but, if you run your own business, you
know it's easier said than done.

The problem is that there are only 24 hours in the day and
you have to spread yourself around a whole range of
different tasks - looking after your clients, finding new
ones, planning for the future and carrying out all the
day-to-day duties of running a business. Each of these is a
full-time job on its own.

Studying highly successful business owners and
entrepreneurs suggests that a combination of two factors is
needed:

Firstly, the right "success mindset" or way of thinking.

Secondly, effective marketing that easily attracts lots of
customers and lets you charge higher prices.

Maybe the first of those sounds like the usual 'positive
thinking' psychobabble. But the reality is it's what
successful entrepreneurs do every day with fantastic
results. And the rest fail because they don't have it.

So let's put it to the test. Grab a sheet of paper now and
answer a few quick questions.

I promise this will help grow your business.

Success mindset is based on two things - knowing what you
want and taking focused action to get it.

So, to start, consider these two questions.

1. What exactly do you want your business to have achieved
in 3 years time (e.g. in terms of sales, profits, size or
reputation)?

2. What proportion of your time each day is spent on
activities that are focused on these objectives?

If the answer to the second question is too low, maybe you
need to give something up.

When you have the right mindset, the next step is making
your marketing as effective as possible.

The trouble is that most business owners don't think of
themselves as being in marketing.

But, whatever business you're in, marketing is its
lifeblood.

It keeps your business growing, and can allow you to enjoy
your dream lifestyle.

Yet most business owners either don't pay enough attention
to marketing, or they spend so much time and energy on it
that they don't have time to make money.

Some gurus would like you to think that marketing is a
complicated process that requires lots of specialist advice.

Truth is it can be quite straightforward if you put in a
bit of thought and planning.

Being able to give powerful answers to these five questions
gives you the keys to increasing your profits.

1. What problems do your prospects and customers have that
you can solve or what do they want to achieve that you can
help them with?

2. Who are your ideal customers, taking into account how
you can reach them and how well you can give them what they
want?

3. Why should they do business with you rather than someone
else?

4. How can you get your message across to them using what
media?

5. When exactly will you communicate with them using each
of these tools?

These may seem quite simple but most business owners
struggle to give good answers to all of them.

If you spend a few minutes answering each of these
questions, you have the basis of a powerful and effective
marketing plan.

Then, as you act on it, you can keep reviewing it based on
the results and improve your answers.

Combining these good marketing answers with the right
mindset from the first two questions above, you are well on
your way to success.

----------------------------------------------------
Robert Greenshields is a marketing success coach who helps
entrepreneurs and independent professionals to develop the
right mindset and marketing strategies for higher profits.
Sign up for his 7 free secrets of making your marketing
more effective at http://www.PersuasiveMarketingPower.com

Effectively Managing Personal Issues at Work

Effectively Managing Personal Issues at Work
Everyone goes through personal issues of some sort during
their lives. Let's face it, when major family/personal
issues arise, your time and energy is going to be focused
on resolving these difficulties.

You're not a machine, you're human, so accept the realities
as they are and don't bristle against them. Beating
yourself up will accomplish nothing except low self-esteem
something that will only add to already difficult
circumstances. Accept the fact that you won't be at your
best in the office during this time. Instead of taking the
approach to "keep a stiff upper lip", try sharing with
people around you. Let them in on the personal issues
you're experiencing. Give them an understanding that your
situation will require your absence from the office or will
take up a lot of your time. Of course there's no need to
share specifics unless you want to. Sometimes when you
let others know the circumstances, it negates gossip and
sets your co-workers' expectations properly. It also
allows them to be more understanding and provide a way to
reach out and offer help.

Some people prefer to "work through" a crisis and others
may benefit from taking some time off or taking an
unscheduled vacation. Depending on your circumstances, you
may want to consider taking a sabbatical. Often we think
we are handling things jut fine, but we really aren't.

Many years ago I was dealing with an issue that involved
one of my children. It was a difficult and very
challenging time for me and the rest of my family. A few
close friends knew, but I felt that I couldn't or shouldn't
let others know, and besides, I was handling it, right?
Then one day, a client told me she thought I wasn't
interested in her as a client anymore. When I asked why,
she confided that I seemed distracted when we met and that
I didn't send her emails or respond to her as I had in the
past. I realized that while I thought I had myself under
control, I didn't. I would have benefited from some time
off, so I could focus on what needed handling without
having to pretend' everything was all right while I was at
work.

During this difficult time, size up your work load and
priorities. Focus on what must be done and let everything
else go. Make a point of reminding yourself that you can't
do it all and only the things that absolutely must be done
will get attention.

Be kind to yourself, ask for help from others and accept it
graciously. For some reason, most people are hesitant or
embarrassed about asking for help. It is during these
times that we need others the most, so don't deprive
yourself during these difficult times. And remember to
take time for yourself. Going through a trying time will
wear on you emotionally and physically, so take time to go
to the gym, play golf, read a book or take a long, relaxing
bath.

If you take care of yourself, you are better able to take
of the personal issues in your life. Learn to embrace all
facets of life. The cycles of personal problems and
personal successes will flow and ebb and you will need to
learn to flow along with them. Being kind to yourself is
the first step.

----------------------------------------------------
Linda Finkle is a leading expert on organizational
communication strategies and human potential development.
As CEO of her executive coaching firm, INCEDO GROUP, Linda
has helped countless leaders build internal communication
and conflict resolution strategies. She brings about
changes in attitude and leadership style that yield
dramatic results. Company profitability is an inevitable
side effect. Learn more at => http://www.IncedoGroup.com

How to Keep Big Opportunities from Tearing Down Your Business.

How to Keep Big Opportunities from Tearing Down Your Business.
It's the dream come true:

"I love what you do. I want you to do project X, so we can
reach a 1,000,000 people (or build that retreat center, or,
etc., etc.)"

Pretend for a moment that I'm your mother, on email, and
allow me to warn you about THOSE kinds of strangers. ;-)

A few days ago I was reminded of this dynamic again, when
one of the current Focus on Marketing™ participants, using
his newly-developed marketing message, started getting some
pretty amazing results saying it to people. One of those
results was a successful entrepreneur who shared his dream,
and wanted to support him in "going big time."

"What should I do?" he asked us in class. "Should I drop
all of this step-by-step-by-step building I'm doing with my
business and just go for the Big Thing?"

If you are even moderately successful in your business, you
will, from time to time, experience Big Opportunities come
your way. Television appearances. Enthusiastic would-be
partners with access to certain markets. The Really Big
Contract opportunity.

Question: What do you do? Answer: Don't be fooled!

Mother Teresa once said,

"No one can do great things. You can only do small things
with great love."

Our culture is caught up in "lottery syndrome."

The Big Thing that is going to save you and your business,
and catapult you to instant fame and fortune. Be careful,
because these opportunities have the power to disrupt and
distract all of the great foundational, momentum-building
work you've been doing on your business.

Jim Collins, in his oft-quoted book Good to Great, writes:

"Then it began to dawn on us: There was no miracle moment.
Although it may have looked like a single-stroke
breakthrough to those peering in from the outside, it was
anything but that to people experiencing the transformation
from within. Rather, it was a quiet deliberate process of
figuring out what needed to be done to create the best
future results and then simply taking those steps, one
after the other, turn by turn of the flywheel."

In my own business I've had a dozen or two "Big
Opportunities" present themselves, and all of them, without
exception, melted away. Not completely. Many of them did
produce results, but not the kind I dreamed about.

Don't get me wrong. Big Opportunities can create big
results for you.

But don't mistake them for a lottery ticket. Generally,
they will produce results that are in line with what your
business already looks like. Be grateful, and keep building
on them.

But don't expect a single one on its own to "save" you.

So, what DO you do when a Big Opportunity comes along?
Don't throw it away!

Keys to THOSE Kinds of Strangers

• If the Big Opportunity is about a huge project with other
partners.

Don't abandon the step-by-step process of building your
business. Dream big with your potential partners, and get
their support to build a prototype.

The international 3M best-seller - Masking Tape, of all
things - was developed through a series of $99 purchase
orders by the inventor Dick Drew (it was all he had
authority to issue without management approval), and
released in a very limited way in a test market. When it
worked wildly well, and the market demanded more and more
of it, they rolled it out bigger. Then they rolled it out
really big.

Do the same thing- build a small model. If someone wants to
help you build a retreat center, first get them to help you
hold a single retreat at another location, and see if the
idea flies. If your business isn't big enough to hold a
retreat, get them to support you in developing the core
principles and activities of the retreat center, and offer
them on a small, local scale and see if people bite.

The right kind of investors and partners won't scorn you
for thinking small. They'll praise you for thinking
practically. Mistakes made on a small scale can easily be
corrected, whereas mistakes on a large scale may bankrupt
you, or destroy your passion and hope.

• If the Big Opportunity is a media appearance.

Unless it's Oprah, don't expect miracle results. Don't
expect millions of orders, a rush on your website, or
overwhelming response. You will probably be underwhelmed,
even with a major media appearance.

The best way to take advantage of a media appearance is:

- Have something free and very useful and germane to the
topic available on your website, and secure the opportunity
to mention it as a public service. And, of course, your
website visitors get it only when they give their email
address to be on your list. This way, you can build a
relationship with them over time, step-by-step.

- If it's major media, and you've never done that, find a
media coach immediately, and get some quick coaching on how
to deliver your message in the strangely unnatural and
quick-moving situation of a major media interview.

- Get copies of the appearance, whether in print, radio, or
on screen, and strategize how to use them to help promote
your business for years to come. You'll see the biggest
results long after your appearance, with the repeated use
of the materials in your own promotions.

• Remember Mother Teresa.

Keep love in your heart. Your business is about helping
people, and is going to be around a long time. Don't let
the Big Opportunities obscure your vision of Great Love,
and know that you are in this for the long haul, and you
don't need a lottery ticket to be successful. Know that
bigger and bigger opportunities will come your way
organically as your business naturally grows.

----------------------------------------------------
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your
Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your
Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line.
He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the
globe succeed in business without lousing their hearts. Get
three free chapters of the book online:
http://www.heartofbusiness.com

Steps to Starting Your Own Business

Steps to Starting Your Own Business
Introduction:

Thinking of starting a business? My hat is off to you, and
I hope that this blog can provide resources for you to get
started. Since my retirement from industry six years ago, I
have been a SCORE volunteer (Service Corps of Retired
Executives). Over these years I have met many clients who
dream of starting their own business. Their motivation to
start a usiness may vary, but their common goal is a desire
to be successful and to be their own boss. My experience
has imparted to me a good sense of those who will be
successful and those who will not be successful. It is
those people who are prepared and have a strong urge that
are successful. From my training and experiences I have
prepared a suggested road map to start your own business.
Do take advantage of your local SCORE volunteer while
planning for your business. The service is free and the
volunteer can be found through your local Chamber of
Commerce.

The Business Idea

The idea to start your own business can come from many
sources: your hobby, your work experience, your desire or a
situation you found where a service was not being met. To
confirm that you have a sound plan you have to: - Describe
the business in a paragraph or less. - Decide if the
product or service is unique... cheaper or faster, etc.? -
Decide whether this business meets your personal goals? -
Commit to investing many hours to make your business
successful? There are many other questions that you will
need to answer truthfully to yourself and then discuss them
with your spouse and close friends. Once you are
comfortable with the answers then you are ready to proceed
to the next steps. The Small Business Administration has a
full list of questions to help fulfill this part of the
journey. http://www.sba.gov Above all, your business has to
"solve your client's problem". It is this objective that
makes a business successful. If this main objective is met,
then all your other needs can be fulfilled.

Start Preparing for Your Business Plan:

You need to do some basic work before you prepare your
business plan.

Finding a Business Name: You need to derive a business name
that represents your dream of a business yet does not
infringe on another business. Your State's Secretary of
State can readily tell you if you have a unique name. You
will find that this is important as you get deeper into
your business plan. Try to derive the most attractive name
you can identify.

Finding a Potential Location: Is your business going to be
a storefront, web site, home or perhaps out of a van
business? Inputs to your business plan will require lease
or rental expenses, insurance and other facility expenses.
Just as importantly, you will have to determine the traffic
past your selected location and how many potential
customers your business will attract. The more attractive
locations will attract more business but will be more
expensive. A local commercial real estate agent is of great
value to help you with this decision.

You need a Logo: I believe that all businesses should have
a logo. It will be added to checks, business cards,
literature and other materials. In my opinion, it brings
the business together. The logo will be used on business
cards, letter heads, web sites and all other forms of
advertisement. Take a look at
http://www.logomaker.com/index.html for a very reasonable
logo design.

Business Structure: You need to decide on your legal
business structure. The options are: Sole Proprietorship C
Corporation S Corporation Partnership Limited Liability
Corporation (LLC) For the majority of my clients, the
Limited Liability Corporation is the best fit. For a
reasonable fee you can have a business entity that has
limited liability for business debts, which protects your
personal properties. You can form the LLC with your State's
Secretary of State. A good Web Site to review the four
business structures is: http://www.quickmba.com/law/org/

Employer ID Numbers (EINs): You should get an Employer ID
Number (EIN) from the Federal Government. The number is
issued by the IRS and it is free. http://www.irs.gov/. At
the minimum this will save your using your Social Security
Number for identification. The IRS site has lots of good
information on small businesses that can be of benefit to
you.

Write Your Business Plan: The business plan is the most
important document for starting your business. The Small
Business Administration has a template that you can use to
write the business plan. http://www.sba.gov The business
plan document should have the objectives of the business,
its structure and it financial road map. This document will
always be used to keep all participants on the same
roadmap. It is the most laborious yet important document
you will derive. This document should be reviewed by your
spouse, good friends, and SCORE Counselor. A good web site
to find samples of business plans is
http://www.bplans.com/. This site shows examples of
successful business plans and also has good information for
starting a business. Again, I must emphasis that you need
to keep the overall objective of "What Problem am I solving
for the Client" in front of you. If you fulfill this
objective the rest will fill in.

Financing: You have finished the business plan and now will
decide if you need financing to start your business. How
much do you need? Most of the clients that I see can
actually finance their business with a credit card. They
need a financial record of 650 or better to get a card and
probably can use the card for up to $10, 000.00 financing.
Perhaps you can provide money from your savings or take in
a financial partner.

If you require more money to finance your business, prepare
for battle. The banks are tough and you are competing for
time with people who will be doing much larger business
with the bank. This is what you will need: A polished
business plan A list of start-up costs Past three year
personal tax returns. A statement of personal histories
Credit reports from Equifax (1-800-658-1111), Experian
(1-800-682-7654) and Tran Union(1-316-636-6100)

Be prepared to answer all questions on your finances and
needs. Be prepared to show that you are conservative in
your plan. Seek out used or rental equipment or other
innovative techniques to save money. You should remember
that the banker is usually interested in helping start a
small business if they have a stong plan and collateral.
You have to be prepared because his or her time is limited.

Further Steps for Success: Hopefully, you will make it
through these hurdles and be ready to open your business.
You are to be congratulated because this is a great
accomplishment. You are your own boss and in charge of your
future. Do not celebrate too much for now, though, as you
still have to hire employees, choose the technology you
require for running your business and wade through many
other details. May it be rewarding and profitable.

----------------------------------------------------
I have a BS and MS in Metallurgical Engineering. Thirty six
years spent in the development of semiconductors. Business
experience in start up business plan. Currently, an oyster
farmer and interested in helping the environment by
deploying solar energy. Visit my Blog,
http://environmentalhelp.typepad.com/ for continued
information on renewable energy
E Mail: p_calhoun@bellsouth.net