Networking is one of those buzzwords that everyone talks about doing but don't seam to have a clear idea of why.

When I started my SEO business I found myself doing a lot of networking without having a clear idea of what exactly the value was and how it was going to help my business.

I regularly attend the Flying Solo small business meetup which is held monthly in different places around Adelaide (next one coming up on September 5th). In the lead up to the meetup, I always see people umming and ahhing over whether they can fit it in to their busy schedule which seems to point to the fact that most people think there's some value there but that its far from the most productive thing they could be doing with their time.

Good things that can come from networking;

• New clients/customers (either those that you meet or by referral from someone you meet) 
• Increased reputation, personal branding and awareness
• Business/joint venture partners
• Business advice and tips
• An opportunity to make friends, get support and vent with like minded people

My Networking Tips

1) Figure out what your networking objectives are. If you want to meet small business owners, then maybe attending a networking event for professionals is not the best use of your time.

2) Arrive early. Its harder to enter existing conversations than it is to start them. If you get there early, you can strike up a conversation with people as they arrive.

3) Try and meet everybody. You never know what you could be missing out on so a good strategy is to try and meet everyone then go back to the people who are most interesting to you if you have time. This is not a hard and fast rule. If you're engaged in conversation with someone interesting and relevant then you don't want to just kick them to the curb but if there's a break in the conversation, use the opportunity to move onto someone new rather than returning to the same person.

4) Focus on others, not yourself. I think you can get far more value by listening, asking questions and helping other people out than you can by talking about yourself and your business. If you can provide value to someone, they're much more likely hire you, refer you work and talk about you in a positive light to others. Further, by listening and asking questions you can learn more about the problems people are having and how you can help them solve those problems.

5) Collect business cards. While your instinct might be to try and give out as many of your business cards as possible, don't forget to collect the business cards of those that you meet so you can connect with them later. I also like to group business cards by the event so if I'm going back next time I can have a look at the cards of those I met so I remember their names and what they do when I see them again.

6) Follow up and follow up some more. In the first few days after the event, try and follow up with those that you met. Add onto the conversation that you had with another thought or a link to something they might find useful or interesting. Try and keep in contact with people by connecting with them every now and then via email, social media, commenting on their blog or even a phone call.

For some more ideas and pro tips, check out this networking article.


Adelaide Networking Events

• Flying Solo Meetup - Small business owners, held monthly, usually 5-10 people 
• Adelaide Open Networkers - Some small business owners but mostly professionals, held every 2 months or so, 20-40 people (last time I was there) 
• The Startup Club Adelaide - They haven't had any events for a while but I think they are starting them again soon? I've not been to any events so don't know much about them but I've heard they're good 
• Young Leaders at the Office - Young IT professionals, every 1-2 months, small cost for non ACA members, 15-30 people 
• Silicon Beach Adelaide Meetup - Tech based entrepreneurs, geeks and businesses, held monthly, 10-30 people
• Adelaide Word of Mouth - Business owners & professionals, a few events each month, free, I've not been to any events yet but I hear they are quite popular.

Got some networking tips of your own? Put them in the comments below.

This is a guest post by Urszula Richards from online iq. I discussed these topics with Urszula in a recent interview for our new Web Marketing Adelaide podcast (Episode 2) and this post summarises and expands upon that interview. You can find out more about Urszula's business; online iq, in their company profile in our internet marketing directory. - Nick, Editor

What are some things people should consider before having a website designed?

There are two primary things a website must do. It must solve the needs or problems of the website visitor, and it needs to help the business owner achieve its goals.Its true to say that the best websites are designed for the end users - as they will vote with their actions about whether there is anything of value or interest to them. This is one reason why it is good to have an objective person to help with developing your site.

The second thing is that it must align with the business goals. For established businesses, these can be quite clear, but for a young business, these could be quite formative and it can be difficult getting to the bottom of what a business offers (especially if it is a service business). So my advice would be to take the time to get very clear about this.

Other things important to consider:

• budget - contrary to what most people do, telling your developer what your budget is will help them help you be realistic about what can be achieved, and appropriate options suggested.
• online shopping websites - these can be built *fairly* cheaply BUT will they work? Be sure to factor into your budget photography (main expense if you have lots of items; but photographs sell), your fulfillment plan (who will be handling orders), shipping and payment methods. Then, you need to allocate funds to some serious marketing. Just because you build it does not mean they will come. If you don't budget for these items, your 'budget' shopping cart may well become a white elephant.
• ongoing relationship with your web firm - a website is a little like a car. You get the car, but you may need driving lessons, maintenance and fuel to get the most out of it. Work with someone you trust - they will be your first port of call for making your website work for you.

Are mobile websites important?

Awareness of mobile is really important, but what does this mean?

It means that you need to be aware that your website will be viewed on any number of devices, including phones, tablets, huge screens and tiny portable PC's. There is no way a website can look exactly the same across all these devices.

However at the very least -

• make sure your graphics do not include Flash (as it can't be viewed on many mobiles); or at the very least that those pages redirect to an alternative mobile friendly page when accessed from a mobile device.
• do view your site on a range of mobile devices and see if there are simple changes you can make to improve it
• consider having a *micro* mobile site version - which would show up on mobile phones, for local business - ie. phone number, google map, possibly faqs; just the basic information 'on the go'

On the other hand if your target market and/or your offering is very 'mobile-centric' you may want to consider an entire website version completely optimised for mobile.

What are 5 ways business owners can market their website once it has been created?

First a note about marketing in general. It should be seen as a form of genuine, long term, relationship building. I also see no distinction between online and offline marketing - "online" is just a medium.

1. Make sure you are listed in all the local directories. If you are in a particular niche and there is a directory for that niche, make sure you are listed there. (eg if you are a restaurant, make sure you are listed in Urban Spoon). Take control of these listings - so you have up-to-date and interesting information / photos.
2. Blog. You have probably heard about blogging 'ad nauseum' but there is no better way to prove you are current, knowledgeable and interested in your domain. The added bonus of this is that once this has been created, you will actually have something of substance to distribute via your social networks.
3. Do use social media - but make it interesting, relevant or delightful (ok, you might not be able to delight every time!) to your audience. Don't simply have social links on your site going to a very empty Facebook or Twitter page.
4. Capitalise on your web address. Add it to your signature (make sure it is clickable, and not an image), use it in your print advertising, and distribute it on your business cards wherever you can.
5. Understand the importance of your database. Not just names and emails, but who they are. Segment it as much as possible, so that when you do communicate with people, it is a communication which is of value and relevance to them. This is one of the key reasons why I use Business Catalyst to build my websites in. It has a Customer Database and the ability to segment and communicate with your customers. I only wish my clients used it more!! In fact my interview on Web Marketing Adelaide with Nick was a direct result of ongoing, relevant occasional communication via my segmented database.

About onlineiq.

We are a small boutique web design and development agency offering both the creation of websites and the necessary training, support and maintenance to keep them meeting business goals. You can find us @ www.onlineiq.biz or call 1300 970 730

Company Name: onlineiq
Founded: 2008
Key Personnel: Urszula Richards (business development)
Products/ Services: Websites and marketing solutions for business & community organisations
Specialty: Providing integrated online solutions - providing solutions you may not know were possible beyond just having a website

Information Sources:

• http://www.onlineiq.biz/_blog/onlineiq_blog
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/urszularichards
• https://twitter.com/onlineiq
• https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/103217118701629463762/
• http://www.facebook.com/onlineiq

Contact Details

Address: 14 Company Street, Semaphore 5019
Website: www.onlineiq.biz
Email: ursh@onlineiq.biz
Phone: 0413 606 463

I've created this infographic with 8 tips to help improve your search engine rankings in Adelaide. If you head to the page on my website; Adelaide SEO Tips, you'll find more information about each tip and a video explaining each tip as well. Enjoy!

As you know, I haven't been posting much here lately - there are several reasons, mostly because I've been really busy, but also because I've been writing articles for my Online Marketing business website: Wicked Cow Marketing. I've already built up a pretty good collection of resources, here are some of the most recent:

• On-Page Optimisation - A comprehensive guide to on-site SEO, that is search engine optimisation done on the page
• Page Title Optimisation - A follow up to the on-page optimisation article above that focuses on just the optimisation of your page's titles
• How to Get More Facebook Fans - A structured approach to getting more Facebook fans
• How to Get More Twitter Followers - A structured approach to getting more Twitter followers
• Ultimate SEO Checklist - A huge checklist of SEO techniques and ideas that you can use to improve your site
  

I have been thinking about where I'd like to take this blog now that I have other projects to work on and perhaps not as much time to spend here.

The key areas I'd like the blog to focus on include:

• Interviews - With Adelaide based experts in the internet marketing field and the occasional non-Adelaidian when useful or interesting.
• Guest Posts - From Adelaide based exerts in the internet marketing field, more details here.
• Jobs - Continue to posts to and promote our job board.
• Education - Information about internet marketing education and courses in Adelaide and online.
• Events - Covering the various networking and internet marketing events in Adelaide and maybe organising some events of our own.
• News - Covering internet marketing news in Adelaide.

I have made several posts in the past with my own opinions about SEO strategy and ideas. I will continue these, when I have the time, but they will be posted to my personal site nickmorris.me.

I'm toying with the idea of doing future interviews as recorded audio and putting them together in a kind of podcast. They would also be transcribed and posted to the blog.

Some of the event ideas I've had include networking events for internet marketing professionals in Adelaide, SEO round table discussions, small business networking events and free lectures/workshops from internet marketing professionals for small business owners.

Overall the site has two main focuses - information, news and networking within the internet marketing community in Adelaide and packaging some of the community's knowledge and bringing it to small business owners and managers who can benefit.

If you have any ideas or comments about the direction of the site, please add them below.

There are several different things you can do with an article to aid your SEO and online marketing, including:

• Posting it on your main website
• Posting it on another website you own with a link back to your main website
• Syndicating the article to a large number of relatively low quality article marketing networks
• Syndicating the article to fewer higher quality websites
• Using the article as a guest post (one location)

This post seeks to explore which use is the most effective way to leverage an article for maximum benefit.

Article Use	Pros	Cons
Main website	The article can rank and attract traffic to your website	There are no guaranteed links generated from the article
Another website you own	Guaranteed link back to your main website and the article can attract traffic to your other website	Have to divide your content over two websites
Low quality syndication	Potentially large number of links from low-medium quality websites and some exposure	Many links are low quality and will produce little traffic
High quality syndication	A small number of medium-high quality links, exposure to a new audience and likely to send some relevant traffic	Limited number of links generated
Guest post	Guaranteed link from a potentially high quality site, exposure to a new audience and likely to send some relevant traffic	Only one link generated

The traditional use would be to post the article straight onto your main website where it can rank in the search engines and attract visitors for years to come. The article can also be shared on social media and linked to from elsewhere to give your website traffic and an SEO boost to lead to better rankings overall. However, there is no guarantee that you will get links, unlike the other article uses mentioned. Earning links simply by writing good quality content is getting harder and harder so perhaps leveraging your article to obtain value exchange links is a better use of your content.

Value Exchange Links
These are links that are gained by giving something of value in exchange for a link back to your website. Money is a common form of value that is exchanged for links but in this case, the 'value' is the right to use a piece of content on a website. The three uses in the diagram above are value exchange links where you grant another website owner the right to use your content on their website in exchange for a link pointing back to your website. These techniques produce guaranteed links which reduces risk and increases the efficiency of your SEO efforts.

The lower quality method at the bottom of the pyramid has the potential to deliver tens - hundreds of links from low-medium quality websites. The links are likely to have a lower life time value so this technique has less long term value but the sheer number of links, with desired anchor text can still have a good effect on your rankings in the short term.

The higher quality techniques will produce much fewer links but they will have a greater long term value, greater authority and link value and have other benefits such as increasing your reputation and gaining exposure from a relevant audience.

For more information about the SEO value of 'value exchange links' see my recent post discussing whether article syndication is white hat.