Written by Mike Kalil | 27 May 2010

Even though business networking is increasingly going virtual, physical business cards are still very much important. As long as you're still meeting potential clients in person, they're worth taking seriously. You want your business card to stand out in the stack because of its design and paper quality so you're more likely to be remembered down the line. The more your business card stands out, the more likely you are to do the same.

When you're handing someone your business card, you're making an important first impression. The quality of your business card is a reflection of your professionalism. Homemade cards are never acceptable. They scream of amateurism. You might be the best at what you do, but to a new prospect there are only a few ways to judge: by your word and how you present yourself.

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Written by Mike Kalil | 06 May 2010

This week, Google began implementing a new, colorful layout that provides more options for searchers than before. Instead of typing a search query and going through pages and pages of results, you'll now have the option of slimming down your choices. As The Register points out, the change is an obvious attempt to stay competitive against Microsoft's Bing, which touts itself as a user-friendly alternative to Google.

The change has already taken effect for many Google users, though it is apparently not across the board yet. If your Google searches look the same as always, expect to see the new layout within the coming days. The sorting options that now appear – by news, images, videos, maps, shopping, books, blogs, updates, discussions, time frame – were previously available, but most users did not know about them.

Here are some ways you can use the new layout to make your searches more efficient:

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Written by Mike Kalil | 26 April 2010

Is your business turning a decent profit at the moment? Do you already have more inbound sales leads than you can handle? Are you uninterested in expanding your business because you're plenty comfortable with its current size? Do you have trouble justifying investing in marketing because the current economy is treating you so well?

You're one of the lucky ones, for sure, but that's no reason to ignore getting the word out about your business. Large, successful companies have in-house marketing departments and invest heavily in advertising for a reason: They want to remain in the black. They realize that the business world never stagnates. While the future may look bright for them now, they realize their situation could change very quick if their competition outsmarts them. They invest in marketing to ensure that doesn't happen.

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Written by Administrator | 21 April 2010

It used to be that the most work was dedicated to perfecting a site's homepage because, presumably, that would be the place visitors would see first. As Internet users become more sophisticated, they're bypassing sites' main pages in favor of getting the information they're seeking from landing pages. And instead of searching for general terms on Google, Yahoo! and Bing, they're getting much more specific, finding what they're seeking sooner.

CMS Wire cites statistics showing that show that the percentage of a large research website's page views being on the home page has been declining steadily since 2003: 39 percent in 2003, 19 percent in 2009 and, during one month in 2010, just over 2 percent. A technology website, according to CMS Wire, “had roughly 10 percent of page views for the homepage in 2008, and by 2010 it was down to 5 percent.”

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