Technology and the internet are constantly bringing changes to the marketing world. Having even the slightest competitive advantage in business can make a huge difference in profits.  According to findings as reported by the Small Business Success Index (SBSI), social media adoption by small businesses has doubled from 12% to 24% in the last year and nearly one out of five small business owners are actively using social media in their business.

Additional key social media usage highlights reported by SBSI:

• 75% surveyed have a company page on a social networking site
• 61% use social media for identifying and attracting new customers
• 57% have built a network through a site like LinkedIn
• 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next twelve months

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Customer relations begin and end with effective communication.  There is no getting around the fact that every word, spoken or written, by a company is the cornerstone of that company’s success.

Effective Business Communication: Why Is It  So Important?

Businesses communicate to find out customer needs and to show that they are listening and have the answer to those needs.  It is as simple as that…in theory.  The truth is that effective business communication requires a certain skill set to determine the customer needs and then deliver on that information.

The basic skill set requires a genuine concern for the customer and their request or issue.  Smile and speak clearly with an upbeat tone.  Be sure to offer help and act as if you are happy to be helping them.  If more information is needed, be polite and ask using ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you, ‘never make demands.

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Are you tired of all the buzz about keywords and just want to know the lowdown on proper keyword optimization? Here are some simple steps to follow so that your pages will finally get on the first page in the search engine results.

Keyword Optimization: A Simple Explanation

Begin by selecting the keyword phrase that you want the page to rank well for in the search engines.  Most often, the keyword optimization is organized like this:  main page is optimized for the most general keyword or phrase, the categories are optimized for more specific keywords and the pages or posts are optimized for very specific keyword phrases.

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Consistently choosing keywords and phrases to use in your overall SEO strategy is an easy and effective way to get web pages and websites to rank well.  Don’t leave money on the table by ignoring the use of search engine keywords and not making the most of all the awesome keyword suggestion tools.

A lot of site owners make one of two mistakes: they either think using keywords and keyword phrases is very complicated or they think that they already know what keywords and phrases their target audience is using.

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