Here are 10 awesome tips on how you can improve the online presence for your business:

1. Submit Your Business to Local Listings
   Do a local search for your business make sure your listing is up to date and accurate so customers get the right information about your business.
2. List Your Business in the Correct Category
   Very often the owner (or the webmaster creating the website) categorizes the business listing in the wrong category. Include as many relevant categories as possible to your business to attract customers. 
3. Add or verify your business listing with data providers for search engines
   Search engines and local search sites use data providers (e.g. InfoUSA, Localeze, InsiderPages, MerchantCircle, etc.) and it’s very important that you update their listing of your business. 
4. When Possible Include product / service keywords in your local business listing title
   This tactic will help customers find your business more easily on search engines and you will be ranked higher in the process.
5. Check the Accuracy of Your Full Name and address on all search sites and especially your website
   A full and accurate address generates a sense of trust for both customers and for search engines so make sure that wherever you appear on the web, your information is up to date, accurate and consistent throughout.
6. Hire a Professional and Build a Great Website with an Optimized Number of Keywords and Good Content
   Your company website is the image project on the web to the rest of the world. Show the world you care about your image, your business and your customers with a unique, easy to navigate website. Stay away from cheap imitations, standard templates and cookie cutters (one size fits all) websites. If you want to stand out from the crows so should your website/blog.
7. Get your customers to write online reviews and testimonials about your business
   Many customers look for objective reviews before they decide where to spend their money. Online reviews of your business can also contribute to your ranking on search engines as they give credibility to your business and puts your potential customers at ease.
8. Encourage your customers to talk well on and offline about you
   Create more “buzz” around your business. Customer feedback is always good and you an use that to your advantage to improve your business.
9. Understand and use social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Flickr, etc. to stay in touch with customers and attract new ones
   Use these sites to form a community for your business – this is a good way to communicate with existing customers, advertise sales or specials, and a good way to be visible to potential customers. 
10. Create a Blog and be active on others as well
    This is the cheapest way to sort of “toot your own horn” on line. It only takes time to research and write on your blog but very soon you might be able to attract more and more people who enjoy your products and/or services. In addition – your website and thus the company’s brand will rank higher in the search engines. This might not be sufficient unless you also find other blogs within your niche and become an active contributor.

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There are 5 ways to make money with your blog (or website). Might be others – I’m open for suggestions: 

1. Sell ad space on your blog
2. Write articles for other companies/blogs/individuals
3. Syndicate your blog posts to other blogs/Sell Blog Subscriptions
4. Sell your own things on your blog
5. Sell third party goods online

1. Sell ad space on your blog

One of the most popular ads is GoogleAds: https://www.google.com/adsense (although they pay you only when someone actually clicks on the ad) and the Yahoo Publisher Network https://publisher.yahoo.com/portal/login.php

Selling ad space is fairly easy to do; just create a section on your blog that describes the benefit for companies/individuals to place an ad on your blog. 

One word of advice though: When you start this adventure, do not fill your blog to the gills with ads – it will not look very professional. Your readers need to see what you can offer first before they will buy anything from you or off your blog. 

You can spot a newbie, right-away by the imense number of ads running on his/her site, trying desperately to make some dough. People do not respond well and they will leave your site fairly quick before you can even write about your expertise. 

Here’s an example from the highly acclaimed blog called doshdosh (http://www.doshdosh.com/advertise) 

Dosh Dosh Advertising Page

Same can be done for a website. The more traffic you have the more you can charge. 

If your blog has low traffic you can always go to TextLinkAds or TextLinkBrokers. Even better connect with your network in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and let them know you are offering ad space on your blog for a minimum of $XX amount per month. You will be surprised of the response you get. 

2. Write Articles for other companies/blogs/individuals

This usually frightens some people but you don’t have to be an expert in a particular field.

You’ll have to show proof that you: 

 - are a creative blogger
 - have articles you wrote and published on your blog, ezines or squidoo lenses
 - comment and are active on other blogs as well
 - are proficient using social media, plug-ins and add-ons
 - have a basic understanding of simple SEO rules

The best way of all is to show that you are a pro is creating, maintaining and actively contributing on your own blog. You should have at least 3-4 months under your belt and a minimum of 30-50 good articles consisting of 250-500 words each .

The core subject or theme of your blog does not matter as long as you write frequently and professionally. Obviously check for grammar. Write well and write often. 

3. Syndicate your blog posts to other blogs/Sell Blog Subscriptions

If the information posted on your blog is in high demand you might want to think about syndicating your blog.

You can accomplish this through 3 easy steps:

 a. Find out what your blog’s feed is (it should look like this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/your-blog-name-here)
 b. Customize your feed through the feed dashboard
 c. Finally – publicize your feed to your readers.

Others have started blogging and got so popular that know they sell subscriptions. See problogger.com 

Again, based on how popular your blog is, the amount of money you can charge can vary. Initially start small and as you add more value you can increase the dollar amount you can charge.

4. Sell Your Own Things

In the fortunate even that you already have something to sell on your own, you’ll have to have some additional tools along side your blog: 

 - If you are selling digital assets (e-books, art, photos, music, etc.) you’ll need an ecommerce shopping cart and a PayPal account.

The alternative is http://www.payloadz.com or http://www.payloadz.com

 - If you are selling physical, tangible products you’ll need all of the above, a FedEx account and…lots of boxes.

The majority of bloggers sell their ebooks and books, usually directly from their blog using a simple PayPal account.

5. Sell third party goods online

This is the part where beginners make the mistake of selecting products that they enjoy disregarding their reader’s likes and dislikes. Chose the products your reader base enjoy and look for. If your site is about web design don’t post ads for MP3 players or mortgage adverts. 

People that come to your site seek your advice in whatever you are writing about so offer them the things that augment your articles and the entire theme of your blog. 

Look for products to sell by signing up as an affiliate. For instance I host my blog with JustHost. I love their customer service and I think it brings a lot of value to every webmaster out there; I therefore promote their company on my site, of course getting a little money for that. 

Other sources where you might find good affiliate programs: 

Clickbank: http://www.clickbank.com 
Commission Junction: http://www.cj.com 
Hydra Network: http://www.hydranetwork.com 

Once you set this up, you’ll need to promote your blog so it increases in traffic and thus your chances of selling directly from your site. How can you do that? See below a list of articles talking about that. 

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1. Learn by Example

Look at what others are doing and make it work for you. Do it better and soon you’ll be known. For example seek bloggers and see what they are doing to generate more traffic. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice and follow it.

2. Social Networking

Get on with Social Media – enough said!

3. Learn to Say “No” and when to say it

Determine your work hours. If you respond to any inquiry with “I’ll work all night long and I’ll have it done for you by tomorrow morning” you’ll burn yourself out in no time. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, especially at the beginning of your freelance career. You’ll have to impress your clients and this is one of them – just don’t fall in the trap of jumping at every little request – you’ll end up losing other clients.

4. First Impression Counts

You are in business for yourself. You are your business and so is your website, business card, email etiquette, social media presence, your shoes and your hair style. You might think it’s cool to rebel against the establishment with a shaggy hair style but unless people are writing books about you, your perspective clients will not take you seriously if the image you project is not professional and expert like.

5. Money, money, money

It is very important how much you charge (per project or per hour). You’ll probably end up having a combination of the 2. Here’s how I do it: If I create a website for a client, I will charge per project, based on the number of pages, complexity of the site, forms to be attached, etc. Once the website is up and running I will begin charging per hour based on the type of changes/additions the client has. When you first start out, check out the prices in your area and start a bit under the market price just so you gain some experience and reputation. Once that is established (depending on how busy you are) start increasing the amount you charge so you level your dollar amount to the market prices.

6. Contracts

This is probably the most important element of your freelancing career. Pay attention to this and make sure you have strong contacts in place, as well as non-disclosure documents. Do not ever, ever agree to take on a project without a signature from the client and a clear description of the tasks to be performed. Make sure you include all the necessary and vital details you see fit. Mention the total amount and break down the work description in manageable chunks with the respective price attached for each section. In order to make sure the client is committed to the project I usually ask for a 50% retainer before I start the work.

If the client has changes or additions in the middle of the project, have them send you emails with all the necessary details and do not assume he or she assumes that the additional work to be performed is not included in the initial amount.

If things go sour, you can always go back to your contract and your written proofs of their approval for different items they requested.

7. Market Yourself

Find any type of website you can add your portfolio of work or you can list your website or blog. Look for directories and other sites that look professional and ask the owner(s) to include your URL on their site. Offer reciprocity with their URL on your site as well.

Don’t forget to create a PDF version of your portfolio with your best work. It comes in handy every time someone requests proof of your work, plus it’s something that a potential client can always carry with them or even print.

8. Know what you don’t know

You won’t be able to know everything. Recognize and know your limitations but always be prepared to learn new things. Constantly improve your talents and keep up with news in the industry by searching the web, participate at seminars, read books and publications.

If you don’t know something just be honest and admit it without promising things just so you can please the client. Often, I was asked to do things outside of my realm, based on the fact that I was the computer guy. I always told my clients that I do not know one thing or another but I will do the research and get back with them by a certain date. They loved the answer and appreciated my efforts. In fact, that’s how I gain some of my clients.

9. Get Organized NOW!

The majority of creative people are not CPA’s because they are..well…creative. Unless your brain is perfectly balanced an can reconcile checks as easily as drawing a new logo, chances are you lack the tedious work ethic and organizational skills of the bean counters. That might hurt you when taxation time comes so be prepared at least with some form of tracking your expenses either in Excel or QuickBooks. Keep track of daily expenses, bills, invoices and other fun stuff the IRS is so fond of. A shoebox for all your receipts can come in very handy.

10. Network, network and then network again

Start with your friends and family and put the word out. Make friends on Facebook and signup for LinkedIn. Look for professional seminars in your area and attend. Take a stack of business cards with you and hand them out. Call old high school or college buddies and tell them what you do and ask for their help. You’ll be surprised how many connections you can make. Search for organizations in your area where you can participate or volunteer. Pick a cause, any of them and offer your services for free. I donated a website for an organization working with autistic kids and you cannot even imagine the exposure I got from that. So – network. Network a lot.

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