Three Things You Should Know Before Choosing AdWords Express

Three Things You Should Know Before Choosing AdWords Express

By linda linklink   10:32 AM   No comments:

Online advertising is a powerful, affordable way to grow your business, but you have to start with the right tools. Many small businesses are interested in reaching new customers online, but don’t know where to start, and don’t have much time to spare. As Benoit Ballon – the owner of King Florist in Austin, Texas – puts it, “We just wanted a platform where we would be able to keep it simple. For our small business, that’s a big plus.”

For business owners like Benoit, we recommend AdWords Express, a smart advertising tool from Google that’s designed to manage your ads for you, helping you get the most out of your budget and allowing you to stay focused on your business. A lot has been written about choosing the best product for you, and it can be overwhelming to sift through everyone’s recommendations. So if you’re considering AdWords Express for your online ads, here are the top three things we think you should know:

1. It uses expert techniques to manage campaigns for you.
   AdWords Express is constantly fine-tuning your campaigns. It monitors how often and where your ad appears on Google (and across the web), adjusts spend, and makes sure your ad is placed in front of the right people, to help you maximize the number of clicks or calls for the budget you selected.
2. It’s designed to make setup easy and results clear.
   Setting up your first AdWords Express ad takes just 15 minutes – it’s as simple as answering a few questions about your business. Once your campaign has had some time to run, AdWords Express shows you focused results – including views, clicks, and calls – in an easy-to-read dashboard, available on desktop and in the mobile app. You’ll also get an email of your results every month, so you can keep track of things right from your inbox.
3. It’s improving along with the rest of Google.
   One of the best features of AdWords Express is the work it does on your behalf, and we’re making it even smarter with cutting edge technology from Google Brain. We also recently announced the addition of Google Analytics to help advertisers get even deeper insights into their performance. We’re constantly improving AdWords Express, so keep an eye out for even more features in the coming months.

For Benoit at King Florist, the difference AdWords Express makes clear. “With AdWords Express, we can actually see an increase in business. If tomorrow I turn off the AdWords Express campaign, two or three days later I can feel it. The phone isn’t ringing as much. Our presence online isn't as much. Every day, on one of our campaigns there is an impact.”

AdWords Express is designed to be effective for all types of business and all sizes of budget, so sign up today and get it working for you. To see a full list of features, and more information on choosing between AdWords Express and AdWords (including a detailed comparison), visit our help center.

Posted by Kavi Goel, Senior Product Manager, AdWords Express

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Use Online Reviews to Connect with Back-to-School Customers

Use Online Reviews to Connect with Back-to-School Customers

By linda linklink   2:38 PM   No comments:

It’s time to get down to business for back-to-school. During this time, students, teachers and parents are relying on reviews while searching online for everything from notebooks to new clothes to campus coffee shops. In fact, 3 in 4 consumers say it’s important to read reviews before visiting a business.¹

Business owners like Brian Wood of Sureflow Rooter see the value in customer reviews. “We often ask our customers how they found us: online, word of mouth or advertising? We have been pleasantly surprised to hear them say ‘from Google’ and that they liked our reviews and felt comfortable calling us.”

Small business owners looking to make a good impression on back-to-school shoppers should use tools like Google My Business which allow you to engage with, and manage, customer reviews. Below are a few tips to help you get started:

Tip #1: Just ask
Satisfied customers don’t always remember to write reviews, so it’s important to give them a reminder after they make a purchase or interact with your business – but remember to keep review guidelines in mind. Try including a survey link in your receipts or sending an automated follow-up email, rather than, say, setting up a laptop for reviews in-store, or offering incentives, which violates Google policy.

Tip #2: Be proactive about responding to reviews
It’s important to address both positive and negative reviews, since 83% of customers remember reviews from search results.² When responding to reviews, it’s always good to thank customers. In the case of a negative review, address the issue without getting defensive. For example, try posting a reply describing the steps you took to remedy the situation.

These personalized responses are an opportunity to build relationships with customers. Don’t be afraid to highlight your business’s personality.

Tip #3: Actively monitor your reviews
Managing reviews is an ongoing process, so you should make sure to check in periodically and stay up-to-date with what your customers are saying. You can do this by checking the reviews section of your Google My Business dashboard.

The Children’s Museum of South Dakota noticed that this method helped their business stay in tune with customer interests. Randy Grimsley, the Director of Marketing, told us, “We regularly check on customer reviews. It’s a quick way to discover what’s working and what may need tweaking.”

Your back-to-school assignment? Apply these lessons to your business, and start getting proactive about online reviews.

For more helpful tips on managing your online reviews, check out: gybo.com/review

Posted by Emily Harris, Program Manager, Let's Put Our Cities on the Map

1. Impact Report: How are Customers Discovering Small Businesses?, May 2016
2. Google/ Ipsos, Impact of Search Listings for Local Businesses. Base: Saw Listing (Control=494, Test= 496), August 2014.

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Speed Reading Tips

Speed Reading Tips

By linda linklink   6:58 AM   No comments:

The following speed reading tips were taken from UK speed reading experts Susan Norman and Jan Cisek, you can download their FREE ebook: Spd Rdng Bible, 37
Speed Reading Techniques and Tips - How to read faster. I got a lot from their course and am now giving Amazon a lot of business!

Speed Reading Tips

Preview books

- What are you reading?!

Read with a purpose to find information

- What are you reading for?

Get in a good state

- through the centring exercises that are part of Embodied Management Training for example

Use your finger to help your eyes!

- Simple but helps a lot.

Focus on "hot spots" of information

- Learn to identify the crucial parts of passages (certain eye-scanning patterns help with this)

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Networking Tips and No Nos

Networking Tips and No Nos

By linda linklink   12:03 AM   No comments:

Networking Tips and No Nos

If you're in business you're meant to network, it's in THE RULES or something. Most networking business people do however is a complete waste of time however, and an unpleasant inauthentic crass one at that. Here are my list of networking tips and no nos. Things to avoid:

Being a Selfish Git (a.k.a. a "Netjerk")

Networking IS about getting in touch with certain specific people - your target market and people who may know your target market (in my case training managers in medium to large sized companies in the UK for example). AND while targeting is key, don't just be a blinkered selfish user git. It's networking not getworking or netjerking.

It may be the wife, friend or son of an apparently "useless" person that connects you to a buyer for example. You are also building your public identity with each person you speak with. Note also that effective networking is about giving and being useful to others. The person that is now providing me with web design gave several good pieces of free advice and contacts for other work before we started working together - people reciprocate and cross refer naturally once relationship is built.

Being Boring

Me, me, me is boring, boring, boring. Remember that people's time is precious, listen and get to know people. This is in your interest as well as their as any good sales person will tell you.

Shoulder Gazer

Give people your full attention or none at all, looking over someones shoulder to see if anyone more "useful" around at a networking event is offensive.

Card Thrusting

When you meet someone do not just trust your card towards them straight away - this is definite no no. The card handover should be like a respectful kiss at the end of a first date. You don't even have to exchange cards with everyone you meet.

Being a Networking Fake

Be yourself, you're better that way and most people can smell BS a mile off anyway. If someone asks how business is and it's not great, say "not great". If someone asks how you are answer them truthfully, you will be building trust.

Card Collecting

While networking for me is not about just talking to people I can sell to, it is also worth following-up connections, and getting put in touch with people you can sell to (or buy from). Add people to your database, LinkedIn, Twitter or whatever else the kids use these days, after you meet them. Mail that day or make a note to phone people to continue building relationship and being generous. Just collecting a bunch of cards won't achieve anything.

Being a Networking Tart
Find one or two groups and get to know people within them by building relationships over time.
Groups I enjoy networking with for example are the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce who are friendly and funky and the local CIPD group (I work in business training so these are my peers and potential customers).

Networking Tips and No Nos Conclusion

I hope you've found these networking tips and no nos useful. Good networking is just being yourself and getting to know people, who you may be of service to, and who may enjoy helping you out. Look for the win-wins and enjoy being yourself.

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Haiti Earthquake Stress Management Tips

Haiti Earthquake Stress Management Tips

By linda linklink   12:41 PM   No comments:

This article by the American Psychological Association includes stress management tips in regard to the Haiti earthquake. It is aimed at those who have friends or relatives there and are suffering form stress.

And here are Integration Training's stress resources and tips.

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How to Manage E-Mails

How to Manage E-Mails

By linda linklink   2:55 AM   No comments:

Often on my time management courses I'm asked, "How do I manage e-mails?" or "My e-mail inbox is overflowing, how do I empty it?!?" It seems like we all have too many e-mails to handle and trying to manage e-mail takes up a good part of most office-workers days.

Here are a few considerations and e-mail tips influenced by Getting Things Done (GTD) and other time management systems:

Pick-Up Time and Breaks
No, not how quickly you can get lucky in a bar but how long it takes to stop doing an activity and then start again because of an interruption. It is much more efficient to e-mail in blocks than continuously throughout the day. It is not efficient to multi-task.

The counter balance to minimising pick-up time is that too long doing anyone activity will lead to a decrease in efficiency and an increase in mistakes, so regular breaks are essential. Even micro breaks where you look out of the window for a moment or sip a drink and savour it will save your heath and increase your productivity.

Tip - Turn off signals that new mails have arrived like Outlook's pop-up notice

Is a new mail actionable?
If not it is either an FYI, junk or reference material. Delete junk immediately (blocking the sender if a reoccurring), read FYI and delete if you are comfortable to or move to storage with reference. Storage areas should be mutually exclusive to make ease of reference later (i.e. a mail couldn't be in either "Clients" or "UK Clients").

Tip - The @ symbol will be above ABC etc in your folders for categories you use often. E.g. @ Important Client

Can you do it in less than two minutes
If you can responds to a mail instantly in less than two minutes you might as well do it now rather than put it off. Two minutes is a shorter period of time than most e-mailer think - it may amount to two lines or less.

Tip: Look out for the crucial request in long e-mails -what does the sender want?

Can you delegate it?
Self explanatory. Declines and requests can also be made upwards ("no I won't buy your wife flowers boss", "I can do X or Y, what is your priority?" and sideways "Bob, would you mind doing this my workload is crazy today) - depending upon company culture (I would suggest the ability to both decline and make requests is a sign of healthy individuals and companies).

Can you put it aside for later?
Putting e-mails that require a response that may take a little while aside to specific "project" folders is useful. You may also want to put a note to respond after a particular time (in your diary) or after something you are waiting for (on a "waiting for" section of a to-do list)

!!!Urgent!!!Mails!!!
Who says, the sender or you? Do you have an ongoing commitment to respond to mails within a certain time frame? Are you working on assumptions in this regard (you might be surprised how long people are happy to wait for a response). Often it is e-mail addiction rather than any real commitment that keeps people checking their Blackberries 100's of times a day (also bad for work-life boundaries and stress management).

Using this method you can empty your in-box. It will take an average of two minutes per mail so book aside as much time as you need to do this uninterrupted. If this amounts to days and you don't have time accept that you may have just dropped some balls and move all e-mails received after a certain date into an @old folder (this just neatens up what you are effectively doing anyway).

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