Is Your Website AMP’ed Up Yet?

We Are a Google Partner Specializing in Search Marketing, Mobile, and Display.
We Are a Google Partner Specializing in Search Marketing, Mobile, and Display.

Is your website AMP’ed? If it is you most certainly know that I am talking about Accelerated Mobile Pages, and Google loves them.

If you are not, it is relatively easy to create an AMP page template for your HTML website. Just follow some of these links to learn more and to see examples.

https://moz.com/blog/accelerated-mobile-pages-whiteboard-friday

https://www.ampproject.org/

If you have a WordPress website there are a number of great plugins you can use. I like the following:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/accelerated-mobile-pages/

https://wordpress.org/plugins/amp/

As AMP’ed websites are important from Google viewpoint and Google is actively showing AMP pages in the mobile index, it is important to know and understand why your website needs to embrace AMP now.

SMS Scheduler Reviewed

Nancy McCord is a Google and Bing Partner
Nancy McCord is a Google and Bing Partner

SMS Scheduler is a productivity time saver for me. I wanted to share with you why I use it. No, I am not being paid by the app owner to write this. I am just a fan.

I have four remote working employees. Although we use TeamUp, my staff is busy and this is not a full-time job for them. I have found that by sending scheduled text messages about deadlines on a schedule and reminder notices on a schedule, I keep my remote staff focused on meeting my project deadlines.

I found the app for Android in the Google Play store. I am sure they have a version for iPhone as well. Make sure when you do your installation that you follow the brief but important instructions on how to override a setting so the app will work.

Here are several examples of texts I sent to my staff on specific due dates.

Your social media is in. Please have your loads done by Sunday night.

Make sure you do topics and loads today, as well as WordPress loads.

Please make sure you have updated TeamUp with a new date or mark your things as done.

My staff just finally figured out that I was using an automated messaging service, as I do change the messages. But for me, having reminders scheduled has allowed me to let go of some of the important follow up tasks and spend more time on client projects.

Build It – Right, and They WILL Come

The Web is a very competitive place, but I would like to share with you a case study of a recent customer that highlights if a service is trending, the price is right, and the website is optimized, you can get clients via organic search.

I have client who was just starting a business. He had very little capital,  was selling local drone photography services, and was getting into a market that I felt was just starting to trend up.

My firm built him a website to showcase video and photos of projects and recent photo shoots. We optimized the site architecture, site content, page URLs and mentored him on keywords to use in his self-written content.

We used location specific keywords to help him place organically by county and state name using a smart use in his content and footer information.

On his side, he priced his services a tad below market average, and worked to offer more value than any other competitors.

As a result of our efforts combined with the client, business is growing and the phone is ringing, all without additional advertising.

The point I would like to make is that if the product is “right”, pricing is “right”, there is a need, then the smart use of keywords, content and location specificity can give free exposure that turns into sales and helps a brand new business get a footing from which to build.

To find out more about our services and how we can help you too, we invite you to visit our website to learn more.

What to Do When You Get a Credit Card Decline for Your Services

Nancy McCord
“Just Nancy” – My Point of View for Today.

Credit card decline! Those are words that any business owner hates to hear, but it happens to all of us. When you get a credit card decline for your services here are some tips to quickly resolve the problem.

Be Nice – Always
I have found that sometimes a credit card decline is due to a security issue. Maybe the card was lost or compromised and the customer did not remember to advise you. Be open to the fact that it may be a very simple issue to resolve.

I always send a nice positive note with a request for a new card for my services. Typically if you hear back from the client within a day it is typically something that will be quickly resolved.

Deal with the Problems – Quickly
It is the clients that will not return a note or phone call that typically has run into a cash flow issue. For my firm, we stop services when we do not get a response, as the debt can grow quickly and end up as a write off. You have the most leverage to resolve a problem when an issue is handled quickly.

Make sure that if you have a contract that you cover what happens when a client does not pay. I have learned from experience that if you continue services on a payment promise that your write off will typically end up much bigger.

Change Terms – For Problem Payers
In our agreement for services, we spell out what happens when a client has a credit card decline, resolves, it and continues buying. We move clients like this to a prepayment basis or retainer. Some services we provide are not impacted significantly with a delay in payment, but other services are hugely impacted. Know your own needs and cover the situations in your agreement that all clients must sign to start your services.

Is It Worth It?
In some cases when you receive multiple declines, and it is clear that there is a cash flow problem,  you must take time to evaluate if you would like to continue to work with a client.  Each business situation is different. Just know that trying to collect on a debt is very, very difficult. Suing is not a realistic option and using a debt collector will cost a percentage of the debt and may never be collectible.

We all hate to lose a client, but a poor paying or non-paying client is typically more trouble than it is worth in the long run.

 

Introducing Social Media Bundles

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Call us and get started today!

Social media bundles are now available at a special price on our website. Due to popular demand and customer requests, we now have options for your Twitter, Facebook and Google+ writing needs.

This service is best for clients who want to start connecting online and soft-selling their products using Facebook, Twitter and Google+ our bundled services provide the best cost value.

We bundle our programs for a flat monthly rate instead of billing by monthly service dates and even provide 2 free event or holiday postings a month in addition to your regularly scheduled content.

Priced at $575 to $875 a month, now you can cover all your networks with professionally written and managed content.

Find out more by visiting our social media bundle page today.