I know I go through business cards like water goes through a sieve at conferences, so make sure you’re well stocked and they’re current. If you wait too long, you’ll either end up with craptastic cards that look like you had them printed at the Kwik-E-Mart, or you’ll pay out the nose for shipping. Or possibly both if you’re exceptionally unlucky.

So consider this my little PSA reminder :)

Designed it myself ;)

The reason I thought to issue the reminder is because the mailman *just* brought me a big heavy box full of print collateral! (I know… the strangest things make me happy. What can I say?)

My box of goodies contained my new Lafayette Online business cards, my new BeFoundLocal.com cards, and my new (pictured to the right) cshel cards. Oh, and a couple thousand rack cards for Lafayette Online (rack cards go in the visitor information stands at hotels, the Chamber of Commerce, restaurants by the interstate, etc.)

I was worried that the new cshel cards were going to come out a little weird because I decided to put an enormous blue seashell on the left side of the card and it literally occupies a third of the printable space. The worry, however, was for naught because the color looks great and I’m really, really pleased with the way they turned out. These definitely sparkle with me.

Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but the seashell is the exact same image I’m using as the favicon for cshel.com. Yay for consistent branding :)

This post is courtesy of CSHEL Chicago SEO
T-17 days from SES San Jose. Order your business cards NOW.

Here’s Your Checklist:

1. Buy/Order/Make the cards — NOW
   Do not wait until Thanksgiving gets here and the xmas season when no-one-has-time-for-anything craziness starts. Take a few minutes to pop over to your favorite printing website, bust out the craft paper and glitter, or just add it to your list for your next Target run.

   Buy a box of cards — you choose the level of holiday specificity or lack thereof. Select something pretty neutral (unless you’re positive you won’t offend anyone with a religious card), and maybe splurge for some customization (if you’re having them printed) and some foil accents (because shiny says “I care enough to spend an extra $0.25 per card, because dammit, you’re worth it!”).

   Also, if you’re having your cards custom printed, make sure to include your website address on the card someplace. This is especially important if your website address is different from your actual business name. People may only know you by your URL if they don’t see you or do business with you very often.

2. Buy stamps.
   Do not use a mail meter or automatic postage stamping device. Automation screams lazy and impersonal.

3. Once you have your cards, pull out your client list and start addressing envelopes.
   Again, do not use a printer, do NOT do NOT do NOT do NOT use printed labels. Not only are you telling your clients they aren’t worth you hurting your wittle wrist wif all dat writing, you’re telling them they aren’t even worth you feeding envelopes into your printer. Don’t be lazy.

   If you have crappy handwriting, enlist the assistance of someone who does. Don’t know anyone with nice handwriting or printing? Try your mom, your grandma, your teenage sister/daughter, or an engineer (yeah, I said engineer). They all tend to have very nice handwriting or printing styles and can probably be talked into helping (or bribed relatively cheaply).

4. Sign your cards.
   Again, DO NOT just put them into the envelope unsigned because you have your name/company already printed on them. DO NOT feed them through a printer. DO NOT use a sticker label.

   I know your hand is still cramped from addressing the envelopes. Suck it up and just get it overwith, okay?

   Also, make everyone else in your office (assuming you have a small business) sign the cards, too. A bunch of different signatures (in different people’s handwriting) makes a big impression.

5. Mail the cards as close to Turkey Day as humanly possible.
   You want them to get where they’re going before people start leaving for holiday vacations and just generally are too busy or distracted to fully appreciate your gesture of goodwill. If you can put them in the mailbox on your way to Grandma’s house for dinner on November 22, all the better.

One last note of caution: it’s best to err on the safe side and not go with the edgy humorous holiday cards. Some people take their holidays very seriously and it would be a shame to go through all this effort and then end up alienating a client or potential business partner because you accidentally insulted their beliefs.

This post is courtesy of CSHEL Chicago SEO
Have You Ordered Your Holiday Cards?

Download the 61st episode/2nd live broadcast of SEO 101

Concepts Covered During the Show
Word of Mouth: Make sure you talk about your site to everyone and everywhere and all the time (but when it’s appropriate, of course… funerals… weddings… probably not such a great idea, but use your judgement.) Add your URL to ALL of your print collateral — business cards, brochures, tear tag flyers, mailers. Also add it to you and your stuff and wear it proudly! Make signs for your car, put stickers on your car, get your logo and URL embroidered on your laptop bag, tattoo it on your head… you get the picture) Remember to be the brand!

Networking: Join groups and organizations where people who are likely to use your site are members. Join groups and organizations where people who can influence other people who are likely to use your site are members. Offer to speak for business groups… in your town and out of town. Contact Chambers of Commerce, Women Business Owners groups, etc. Be active, helpful and be visible!

Build Relationships: Now that you’re out and about and networking, take a look at the people you’re building relationships with. I bet at one of the Chamber of Commerce meetings you met a station manager for the local radio station… see if the station needs anything and offer to trade your services/products for advertising time. Radio stations, local cable stations, etc. do that stuff all the time. See if you know anyone who has a business that would make sense to do a cross promotion with, or see if you can put a sign near the cash register in some of their stores, etc. Now that you have relationships, explore the possibilities — but make sure you’re giving and not just taking.

Press Releases: Press releases are great for name recognition, brand awareness, and positioning you or your company as experts in your field. We talk about things to do/not do when writing a press release and discuss various means of distribution.

Cshel’s Recommended Reading
This isn’t exactly homework-homework, but I did mention three books during the show that I strongly encourage everyone to read (of course, I also strongly encourage everyone to buy the books via the links here so I get the affiliate commission, but I probably didn’t need to tell any of you that). Also, I’m not saying there’s going to be a pop quiz later… but I’m not saying there isn’t either.

Marketing Warfare: 20th Anniversary Edition by Al Ries and Jack Trout. (Seriously, read this book. It’s on my bookshelf at home and I can’t count how many times I’ve reread it just to reinforce the concepts.)

Guerrilla PR Wired : Waging a Successful Publicity Campaign Online, Offline, and Everywhere In Between by Michael Levine. (I have a ton of the Guerrilla books, and I love them all. I periodically have to buy new ones because I tend to loan them out to friends and people I meet through various networking groups and just never get them back.)

Full Frontal PR: Building Buzz About Your Business, Your Product, or You by Richard Laermer. (This is a great resource for familiarizing yourself with the process of pitching stories and ideas to the media. It covers print and electronic, and is full of information.)

This post is courtesy of CSHEL Chicago SEO
SEO 101: How Offline Marketing Affects Your Online Efforts

If you ever wondered how much exposure you can generate for your business or web site by issuing a press release, here are some stats from a recent piece I wrote about ethical search engine optimization for SEOFox.

I got the request last Thursday (January 4th), at like 9ish in the evening and the final draft went out on PRWeb.com at midnight that same night (officially Friday, January 5th).

As of Monday, January 8th, PRWeb is reporting just shy of 100,000 reads (from distribution points they have the ability to track) and slightly more than 800 consumer/media “pickups”.

Also, while I know Alexa is highly subject to influence (and I’m sure it didn’t hurt that people who generally read SEO related press releases are webmasters who have the Alexa toolbar installed), it’s still neat to see this huge spike in traffic rank.

…and then this…

This post is courtesy of CSHEL Chicago SEO
Press Release Magic

I didn’t think a spine would work well for this application because of the shape and also because when people see spines they generally think of chiropractors, not CTs. Plus, spines are less attractive than brains and I don’t know if you’re searched for images of brains lately, but seriously, brains are homely. Gray, mushy, slimey, etc. Just not pretty.

I really didn’t want to have a strictly type logo for the site, so I went on a quest to find the most attractive “brain looking” icon I could to incorporate into the logo…and I think I hit the jackpot.

This line drawing of the brain is from iStockPhoto.com and the color added is mine. It’s kind of hip, not pretentious or pompous and overall, I’m really pleased with the way this turned out. It looks nice on the site, on the letterhead and on the business cards.

This post is courtesy of CSHEL Chicago SEO
Pretty brains?

Apparently, not everyone knows the best way to burn that list. If you want to burn your list quickly, send out a slick little email with a very professionally done, hip postcard image promising more information on the website, but make sure the website has no information at all. Not even an update or change from when the user first used the website to sign up for the mailing list.

Bleh. Unsubscribe.

Larger Image || Go to LoftsRC.com

Good mailing lists are hard to generate and should be treated with kid gloves. A quality list developed from information that you’ve collected from users, visitors and customers is much, MUCH more valuable than anything you can buy from some third party.

Respect the fact that people have trusted you with their personal information, and when you exercise the privilege of contacting these trusting souls be certain you’re sending them information or offers that are actually going to appeal to them. Otherwise, you’ll find your carefully cultivated list evaporating into nothing.

This post is courtesy of CSHEL Chicago SEO
How to Burn a Mailing List Fast

While I go somewhat hot/cold on the DreX’s show on 103.5 (I like to you know, listen to music on the radio and stuff), I was amazed when I flipped over this morning just in time to hear him dissing (did I use that word correctly?) the hugely overvalued social networking site. His complaint centered around the “five thousand other Drexes” that suddenly appeared after he put up his page, and that listeners would send email to one of the fake Drexes and the fake Drexes would reply. The horror!

This doesn’t really surprise me. While I worked for Kevin Trudeau, I found several Kevin-pretenders who were seriously talking to people like they really were him. The pages disappeared after we had legal contact MySpace, but it was mind boggling how many people really seemed to think they were having a conversation with KT. No offense intended to the unwashed masses, but do you REALLY think Kevin has the time or inclination to bother with MySpace? No.

So you might be thinking, why is this such a problem? Any pub is good pub, etc. Eh, not so much.

The problem for businesses and individuals with public personas is that in our wonderfully litigious society, anything someone POSING as you says could get you sued. While the lawsuit might (and probably will) ultimately be dismissed because you can prove you did not actually make the statements or give the advice in question, it’s still going to cost money and potentially damage your reputation to be in the situation in the first place — and what if you can’t categorically prove it wasn’t you? What if the incendiary comments/correspondence causes a firestorm in the blogosphere? Once it’s on the Internet, it’s pretty much there forever.

Personally, I hate MySpace. I hate the horrible little web pages the 13 year old kids put up. I hate the way they can’t spell or punctuate their sentences. So I won’t shed a tear if real businesses give up on their pipe dreams of making mad money off of it because it’s the next big thing.

However, if you ARE going to dip your toe into that cesspool, here’s a few things to keep in mind:

1. Do vanity searches for yourself, your business and your products — daily. If you find someone posing as you, you need to have your attorney contact MySpace and get the page yanked.
2. Know they enemy. Snoop around forums and groups that are frequented by your target demographic, and by the people that hate you.
3. Address customer service complaints as soon as you find them, and bend over backwards to make it right with the complainer. If they’re loud enough about their kvetching that you found it on MySpace, you need to make them happy so they at the very least they shut up and in the best case scenario they become one of your cheerleaders.
4. Answer Your Email! If you’re putting yourself/business/product out there, make sure you actually check the mailbox comments go to and reply to them. People will quickly decide they’ve got better things to spend their time on if they feel like their questions (or adoration) is going into a black hole.
5. If you’re going to do it, do it right. It takes a time investment and it takes dedication, but if you’re going to get into these social networking sites and use them effectively, seriously USE them. It is not going to do you any good to set up a page and then never go back. You must, must, must cultivate your following, keep your info useful and fresh, and you must interact with your clients/fans/etc. The interaction is the WHOLE point of the concept, and if you’re not dedicated to it, you’ll either tick off your audience or they’ll just decide you’re not worth their time and move on.

This post is courtesy of CSHEL Chicago SEO
Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of MySpace Marketing