We’ve finally gotten things rolling again and we’re running double time into the rest of this year!

It’s 2008. It’s actually over a month into the new year.

Is your website where it should be?

Brand new (fiscal) years can be overwhelming and exciting all at the same time. However businesses, be they solo or corporate, need to be on top of things, and that’s where Anubis Marketing can help.

We’ve got lots of really exciting things about to happen around here and we are just loving that feeling…
We want to help you feel that way too!

Call us now to see how we can make your internet dreams a reality!
(518) 843-9633

(photo credit)

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Things have been really busy here at Anubis Marketing. I mean, REALLY BUSY! And no, that’s nowhere near the realm of being a complaint, but it does require that we make a few changes as we progress into the second month of this new, wonderful year!

I’ll just get right to the point(s):

• We’re slacking on blogging. This is clearly not good, as we really try to encourage our clients to be heavily active with their blogs, yet we can’t seem to get ours on a good schedule. So that’s one thing that we’re really going to focus on in the immediate future.
• We’re bored with the layout of the site. Aside from the issues we had yesterday and this morning (a 500 Internal Server error caused by something with our .htaccess file that we didn’t discover until after we deleted our entire installation of WordPress), the site as a whole needs an overhaul in many ways, one being design. Quick fix: Redesign it. Quicker fix: Get someone else to design it. Lightning quick fix: Get another theme and tweak it until we get what we want. We’re still fussing with this one, so if you see things looking a little odd around here, you’ll know why.
• Our focus is too widespread. We’re narrowing down the services we offer up outright, and reserving certain things for either current clients, or for really special potential ones. Don’t get nervous - It’s not like we’re getting snobby or anything here! It just means that based on our current workload at the time of your request, we’re going to have to work hard on scheduling and time constraints.
• We love WordPress and want to contribute more to the community. Focusing on themes, we’re planning on releasing a bunch of free ones and premium (paid) ones in the coming months. The legal stuff and the actual theme work is a little time consuming, so please bear with us, but this is a promise we’re making now to the WP community, both current and future.
• We want to expand some of the services that we’re not giving enough attention to at the moment. One of the things we love to do is help coordinate marketing events. We’ve done this in the past for Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net, both online and offline, and it’s something we really enjoy. (Plus, we’ve been told we’re pretty good at it!)

So there you have it - just some of the main things we’re looking at changing up around here. Stay tuned, because we’re really excited, and we hope you’ll feel that way too!

(image by cbanck)

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As some of you know, I do a lot of work with ProBlogger Darren Rowse. His first staff writer, Skellie, has launched a new blog called Anywired - Work Online. Work Anywhere. Live Free.

She’s got a fantastic post there, much like my series on telecommuting, that gives 15 reasons to get connected and work online.

The bottom line here is that Anywired can help not just individuals, but businesses as well, to understand the value in telecommuting or freelancing. I think that in the next 5 years, we’re going to see many more entrepreneurs going solo and working wirelessly from anywhere in the world. Personally, I’m aiming for a beach house somewhere in the Caribbean!

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As of right this second, you and your business have just over a month before the arrival of 2008. Businesses plan entire months worth of meetings around a new year, trying to come up with new and creative ideas for marketing their company. There are product development teams and consultants working together, press release management campaigns going on, and sales teams pushing products or services like mad in order to make the profit margin greater than it was last year.

Even small businesses are planning radio and television ads, booking up their spots in the newspapers and ad books, cleaning up their yellow pages listings, you name it.

But what about online marketing? There are budgets for everything else, but how do you know what you’re going to have to set aside for the new year in terms of the internet?

1. Take note of any recurring payments you may need to make. This means hosting and web design fees, directory listing subscriptions (some are one-time fees and some, like Yahoo’s $299 fee are annual), your SEO company’s monthly fees (and any increases that might be made for service adjustments), and so on. These are the basics of your online budget, as they are things that your business should not be online without.
2. Analyze the places your site isn’t listed, and add those fees to your budget accordingly. Not listed in Yahoo yet? Tack on that $299. What about Business.com? That’s another $199 a year. Considering playing around with Google’s AdWords? Get the lowdown on what your suggested budget might be by hiring an AdWords professional (your SEO or internet marketing company should be able to do this for you) to run a test campaign for you.
3. Set aside money for advertising on related blogs. Every one is going to have a different price, and going through text link brokers may not be such a good idea right now. Contact bloggers directly if you’re interested in advertising on their site, and see what their rates are. Pick a handful with good traffic and a fair price (and make sure your ad will appear “above the fold”) and tally up the total. You don’t have to pay for 12 months of the year on all of them, pick and choose wisely.
4. Do something for free advertising. Write some industry related articles and submit them around the web and to industry bloggers. It won’t cost you anything but time, but it might give you a good traffic boost. If you’re not already blogging for your business, there’s no better time than the present to start. Ask your designer (or find a new one) to get you started, and appropriate the time into yours or another employee’s schedule to keep up with it. Blogging (the right way) gets you noticed, period.
5. If you’re new to online marketing, hiring an agency or consultant is going to be extremely important. They’ll know what to target and how much it’s going to cost you, and will be able to help you set up a monthly and yearly budget for doing so. Relationships with online marketing firms are best made long-term, so if you’re thinking of going month-to-month with one, keep in mind that you’re likely to pay more up front for the extra advertising fees (because they’re going to want to help you as much as they can in a short amount of time) than you would if you let them make a year long plan for you. It’s easier to stretch a budget over the course of six months or a year than it is to try to get it all done in a month.

As we’ve all heard before, “It takes money to make money.” Realizing that it’s more than just tossing up a website and having the address put on your stationery is what’s going to get you somewhere with your online ventures. While that might be a costly hunk to swallow at first, it’s an important fact of online business you can’t afford to ignore.

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Around the holidays, people scour the internet for interesting, original gift ideas. They want to give one-of-a-kind (or close to it) kinds of gifts, and are willing to look toward handmade crafts for that reason.

Are you a jewelry maker? Knitter? Painter? Maker of altered books? If your hobby is something you’ve considered making a real profit from, then you’re going to need to know how to market yourself during the holidays.

Keep in mind, there are probably millions of crafters out there doing the same thing - you’re just going to have to be different. Assuming you already have a website (if you don’t, go get one - hosting is cheap and getting SOMETHING up is pretty affordable too), here are steps you should be taking to get those sales to soar.

• Get set up on eBay. People use eBay most during the holidays, but keep in mind that they’re looking for bargains. If your craft isn’t totally original, there are going to be hundreds of other auctions up that are similar to what you’ve got. Use the “buy now” feature, set your prices, and see what happens. Make sure you put your site’s URL in your listings.
• Join groups, forums and lists for crafters that work in the same or similar materials you do. If you’re a woodcarver, join a Yahoo Group for woodworkers. Are you a knitter? Check out the knitting and crochet groups. By joining these groups, you can put your site’s URL in your signature for the forums or emails and you’re bound to get interest because yarn-lovers are drawn to yarn crafts, wood lovers are drawn to wood craft, and so on.
• Visit Sell Your Art Online and sign up for the newsletter. SYAO is a newsletter that covers topics that artists and crafts people need to know to successfully sell their creative work on the Internet. Some of the information is probably more than you need to worry about, but there is a LOT of great, useful info there.
• Check out a site like Etsy. Etsy lets you sell your wares online, via their marketplace, for a small fee per sale. The benefit is that you can only sell things that are handmade - by YOU. So unlike eBay, you’re not competing against wholesale distributors or retailers buying up items in bulk and then reselling. If your craft involves digitally downloadable items, you can use a site like E-junkie.com to affordably manage your download sales and get others to promote your downloads for you by offering them a piece of the pie.
• Use a blog to show your process. People who see the amount of time and effort you put into your projects are more apt to buy them for the quality behind the work. Take photos while you’re making your jewelry or knitting a scarf and hat set. Talk about the yarns you use, or the quality of silver in your earrings.
• Offer special deals. Especially online, people are looking for the “great buy” deal. If you normally sell your paintings in singles, try making a few sets you can sell separately or in a group, and offer a discount on the group package. Make sure it’s truly a valid discount - don’t spike your prices now in order to put together a package that will get you what you’d normally make any other time of year. Send out a real bargain, and you’re bound to get repeat customers through the rest of the year. Even if all you offer is free shipping with a guaranteed arrival date in plenty of time for the holidays - people will latch on to it.
• If you haven’t already hired an internet marketing specialist, consider doing so, even if it’s only to get you through the holidays. Most good companies offer month-to-month contracts where they’ll make sure your site is properly optimized for the search engines, and will get you listed in good directories or write you up a press release or two that should help you get a little more traffic.

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