Is Bitcoin Going to be a Boom or a Bust?

 By Hector Cisneros

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you’re unfamiliar with Bitcoin, there are a few things you need to know.  While you may know that Bitcoin is a digital monetary exchange medium, it doesn’t work like paper money or credit card transactions.  While you can buy and sell things with Bitcoin, due to the volatility of cryptocurrency, the exchange rate of Bitcoin can vary wildly from day to day.  If you’ve been thinking of transacting business or investing with Bitcoin, you need to exercise caution.  Here’s why:

The Language of Optimization

 By Hector Cisneros

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you’ve ever had a conversation with an SEO expert you might come away thinking that you just heard a foreign language.  That’s because search engine optimization comes with a lexicon all its own.  While this may help an optimization pro do his or her job, what it neglects to do is give you a sense of what is being done to your online assets.  To help you make sense of the process, I’ve come up with a basic dictionary of SEO terms that I’ll translate for you below.

Zen & the Art of Online Sales

 By Hector Cisneros

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you’re looking to find the net profit on the Internet, you need to adopt the principles of a Zen Master.  These gurus don’t expect instant Nirvana.  They spend years studying, chanting, and meditating to eventually achieve oneness with everything.  The reason I bring this up is that all too many business owners who’ve tried to sell their goods and services online expected instant results.  When they didn’t achieve this goal they either threw in the towel or blamed the medium.  What they should have done instead was get their inner guru on by admitting to themselves that they hadn’t yet achieved the goal, but they had learned a valuable lesson.  Today I am going to endeavor to teach you the art of online sales.  If you are patient and practice these principles you will inevitably be rewarded, Grasshopper.

Make Them Laugh 'Til They Buy

 By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of Workingthewebtowin.com

When it comes to marketing online, everyone is always looking for a way to get a promotion to “Go Viral.” Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.  Out of the four billion videos shown on YouTube on any given day, maybe a handful will catch the imagination of viewers enough to pass onto their friends and family.  Of those, one or two may take viewership to the next level. (I suspect that most of these are cat videos.)  However, the media likes to tout those videos that manage to achieve millions of views.  If you’re looking to catch lightning in a bottle with a new product, let me give you a little history of a couple of entrepreneurs who have come before you.

Do the Letters WWW Mean Why Won't it Work?

By Hector Cisneros

If you’re in business, you want to get the word out to the public about what you do and what your business has to offer.  That’s a given.  And since the late ’90s, that has meant building and promoting a website.  The web is a wonderful way to let prospects and customers know that your business is alive and well.  It provides them with everything they need to understand and find your firm.  For some businesses, it even provides a way for customers to point, click and buy.  At least that’s the way it used to work at the turn of the century.  The problem nowadays is that it isn’t quite so simple to keep your business top of mind online.  That’s because where there used to be dozens of search engines for you to use to generate a buzz, now there’s the 800 lb. gorilla in the room called Google.  Where online marketing used to be website-centric, today you also need to post to social nets, write blogs and shoot videos if your business is going to stand out from the crowd.  If you either don’t have time to do this or have done this and your web assets still fail to generate an audience, today’s blog is for you.

YouTube vs the Boob Tube

 By Hector Cisneros

If you own a business, you’re always looking for ways to promote yourself, your products, and your services.  One of the most dynamic ways of showcasing all three is via video.  Video allows you to show as well as tell what makes your business special.  It can take viewers inside your operation to get a peek at the people and processes that make your business tick.  In short, video can help you part the curtain that separates prospects from clients by letting them know, trust and like you.  And you can do this in a way that informs and entertains.  Then all you have to do is deliver your message to the masses.

Nailing the New Normal

 By Hector Cisneros

It’s been about a year since COVID-19 first reared its ugly head and made life miserable for all of us.  During the past twelve months, we’ve seen a government-sanctioned shutdown that caused some businesses to close their doors for good.  For all of us who somehow managed to survive, the ongoing pandemic has done more than put a crimp in our style.  It has changed the way in which we now do business.  If you’ve been having difficulty dealing with the new normal, I’ve got some tips that can help you thrive instead of merely hoping to survive.

Why Blogging is a Business’ Best Bet

 By Hector Cisneros

I’ve been writing weekly online marketing blogs for nearly nine years now and I thought I’d take the time today to explain why that is.  With 396 posts and more than 2.5 million pageviews, I can tell you that blogging is a great way to educate the public about your products and services.  How many websites can boast more than 10,000 views a month without spending one red cent on advertising?  Now many, that’s for sure.  Even the Blogger template that I use to produce the blog is free to use.  Still, that isn’t the only reason to start a blog for your business.  Below are ten reasons to consider.

10 Reasons to Get Serious about Social Networking

 By Hector Cisneros

I’ve been preaching the merits of social networking for more years than I’d care to enumerate.  So much so that I went back to reread some of the blogs I wrote on that very subject to see what has changed.  The reason I did this was to make sure that I hadn’t left any salient detail out.  I have pointed out in black and white many reasons why social media was such a boon to business owners.  Because even after eight years, I’m still amazed and shocked that so many business people don’t understand why growing their following and posting information that is of interest to their target audience is worth it.  So, I thought I’d rewind the tape to provide you with the top-10 reasons why you need to get serious about social networking.

What’s What with SEO?

By Hector Cisneros

Having been an online marketer since the early 1990’s I know a thing or two about Search Engine Optimization, otherwise known as SEO.  I know that it’s important to being found on the search engines.  I know that it’s a time-consuming task to keep all your online asset’s SEO up to date.  I also know that companies spend a lot of money needlessly with so called “SEO Experts” who pocket client’s money while doing little or nothing to improve the optimization of client sites.  The problem is that SEO has changed so radically during the past decade that it’s hardly recognizable anymore.  The real question that all business owners should ask any SEO guru before they shell out one red cent is, “What do I get for my money.”