So, I’ve been working for a company in the manufacturing industry. And one of my tasks there is to grow brand awareness using the Internet — develop a slick new website, optimize it for search engines, set up a pay-per-click and banner advertising campaign, and so on. And, most importantly (for the purposes of this article), launch a business blog.

Now this company isn’t new to e-marketing, they’ve been publishing an email newsletter once a quarter for some time. But this strategy really functions like an electronic quarterly report. Content is high on self-congratulations, but low on education, product marketing, discussion of industry related issues, or any attempts to drive traffic back to their site. Read more...

Rob MacDonald had a problem. His Vancouver based bicycle company, jorg&olif, had become the talk of town, but his website traffic wasn’t reflecting the buzz. Frustrated, he ‘Googled’ his company, but his website was nowhere to be found…

Sound familiar? Ready to give pay-per-click advertising a try, but not sure where to begin? Here’s our starter guide to paying for clicks, drawing traffic and doing it on your own terms. Read more...

I recently learned that online shoppers are four times more likely to buy if they can conduct a transaction in their native tongue. Surprising isn’t it? Especially when you consider that over half of all Inter­net users do not use English as their first language. Yet, in North America at least, we seem to expect everyone to be able or willing to conduct business in English. Not so, say researchers of cross-cultural busi­ness practices. And, as recent research at AOL Time Warner reveals, in the coming years, European online consumers are expected to grow and surpass American online shoppers.

So, I got to thinking about the need for small business people operating online to assess their abilities to serve growing markets overseas, to prevent foregoing new opportunities. Read more...