tips

Tips For Launching A Sacramento Business

Craig De Borba

Internet marketing could be the key to achieving a sustainable startup business in the area, no matter which industry you have chosen. But before you dive headfirst into a marketing initiative, begin with the knowledge of local laws, regulations, and guidelines and a solid plan for addressing each.

Launching a Sacramento Business

You’ve developed a great idea for a product or service. Now is the time to act on that idea! You might be anxious and think that Sacramento internet marketing should come first, but it’s more beneficial to work through the steps below. After all, skipping past key business laws could be a financial nightmare that stifles business success.

1. Assess Your Needs – Create a business blueprint that maps out every need, potential risk, and route for growth. Who is your target audience? Analyze the best location to fulfill the needs of that target demographic. If your business doesn’t have a physical location, Sacramento internet marketing will be even more crucial for exposure. However, you should still follow the other guidelines below.

2. Establish a Legal Structure – If you yourself are not familiar with business law, that’s okay. You don’t need it to run a business. What you do need, however, is a team of people who are familiar with the legal needs of a business. Consider hiring a business attorney and tax consultant who can help you build a legal structure. Depending on how you establish your business, they might need to assist you in registering with the Corporate Legal Unit.

3. Check Zoning Regulations – Check with the City’s Community Development Department before finalizing a location or signing a lease to ensure that the location is zoned for your type of business.

4. Finance Your Business – If you cannot finance your startup through personal savings or family support, you can utilize the Small Business Administration as a resource for other financing. You may also consider finding donors and investors.

5. Register a Name – Name your business and file a fictitious business name (FBN) statement with the Sacramento County Department of Finance.

6. Obtain a Business Operations Tax (BOT) Certificate – All businesses that operate within the city of Sacramento must obtain a BOT to pay a business tax.

7. Review the Hiring Process – Get a Tax Identification Number and an Employer Identification Number from the IRS prior to hiring. Contact Social Security to prepare to pay Social Security taxes. Obtain worker’s compensation information. And finally, register with the Employment Development Department after hiring anyone to figure out disability insurance, unemployment insurance taxes, employment training taxes, and income tax withholdings.

8. Obtain Permits – To comply with local and state business regulations, you may need permits that show compliance with building codes, fire inspection, and revenue.

9. Networking – Regardless of what industry your in networking has always proven beneficial for growing and developing business. Sacramento has a variety of networking events that allow for making the right kinds of connections. You never know who you will meet!

After finalizing the legal details above at the Sacramento city hall, you’re ready to pursue a SEO marketing plan, one which should always include a Sacramento SEO company. For most business startups, that means you’ll be hiring a local Sacramento marketing company with the experience and knowledge needed to capitalize on your specific industry within the organic local business map market in Sacramento.

Internet marketing that isn’t optimized for an area can be worthless, depending on your product or service. Keep that in mind when creating a marketing plan. For instance, if you own and run a startup landscaping business, you don’t need to reach internet consumers in other cities and states.

OnPoint Internet Marketing can ensure your business is reaching your target audience through quality website copy, SEO, social media marketing Sacramento CA, and online advertisements. We can build a Sacramento internet marketing plan that unifies your brand and funnels in new traffic for new opportunities. Business growth begins here. Call us today at (916) 293-0512.

5 Video Marketing Tips

Craig De Borba

The Truth About Video Marketing

Video marketing represents one of the most effective methods of outreach and traffic generation, yet most companies steer clear of the idea. Why? Because video marketing seems like a highly intricate, complex task requiring specialized team members, new resources, ample time, and perhaps even actors or props.

The truth: video marketing is as simple as you make it!

Even with a limited budget, a company can produce a customized visual campaign for promoting products and services. Start with the tips below.

5 Video Marketing Tips

Ready to design your video marketing masterpiece? Great! Here are 5 tips to get you started on the right track:

1. Equipment Can be Free – One of the easiest tools to shoot video already sits in your pocket or on your desk. Believe it or not, your smartphone can take quality video clips. Upload the clips and find a free video splicing app online. Some even allow you to add text, music, etc. Spend a little time researching the best option and playing with it.

2. Consider the Best Host – If you’re new to video marketing, the best place to start is YouTube. In fact, it’s the #1 video sharing site. And being operated by Google means that your video has the potential to rank high if keywords are correctly done. Just be sure to post from your designated company channel. If you don’t have a channel, it’s easy and free to create. Incorporate colors, logos, and descriptions that are in-line with your brand. You may also choose to link to the video from your website

3. Titles are Vital – Titles play two roles in video marketing. One, they attract new visitors. And two, they help with the video’s ranking for greater traffic funneling. A title should be descriptive, creative, and include a keyword near the front. Many companies also choose to include the company name after a dash.

4. Transcribe Your Video – YouTube allows transcription files for greater accessibility. A transcribed video may also carry pieces of the transcription in the video description for better ranking. And finally, video transcriptions are sometimes great launching points for a blog. Don’t forget to include your call-to-action.

5. Link to Your Website – A visitor to your marketing video may want to know more about your product or service. Without a link to your website, the visitor interest cannot be translated into customer service. It can mean a serious loss in potential revenue. In addition to the link, also include an email address or other point of contact in case the site is down or the link becomes broken.

Video Marketing Made Easy

The above tips may seem easy to some and difficult to others. If words like “SEO ranking” and “traffic” don’t make sense, allow OnPoint to help. OnPoint Marketing has a large and diverse client portfolio, and we cater to many unique marketing needs. If you’d like to hear more about how we can use video marketing and other services to your advantage, call us at (916) 293-0512.

Top Social Media Tools that will Simplify Your Online Marketing

Craig De Borba

Could your social media marketing use a boost? Are you looking for ways to improve your social media content marketing and free up valuable time? There are many tools online that are designed to help, but it’s not always easy filtering through which ones actually work. Here are a few of our favorites.

● Sprout Social. When it comes to content marketing services on social media, timing is everything. Having a consistent flow of fresh content gives your audience a reason to stay engaged and regularly return to your social channels. But while you’re hard at work, posting to your social media outlets can be the last thing on your mind. Sprout Social is a powerful suite that allows you to hook up your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ pages and set scheduled post content hours, days, or even months in advance. At any given time, Sprout Social also gives you the ability to view and export reports of how your content performs.

● Hootsuite. Similar to Sprout Social, Hootsuite is another powerful tool that allows you to automate when posts get pushed live on your social media channels. Just choose your plan, link your accounts, and you’re ready to go. When you schedule your content, you can even request an email to confirm that your post has gone live. It takes the worry out of having a regular flow of content on your pages.

● Iconosquare. To improve your future content you’ve got to analyze your past content. The best way to do that is through reporting. Iconosquare gives users an in-depth look at the analytics of their Instagram account. The service also allows for users to track the competition, keep an eye on hashtags, and run photo and video contests.

● Repost App. Do you have followers posting photos of your product or service? Sometimes user-generated content can be the most valuable when trying to spread awareness about your brand. The Repost App allows you to report content from users on Instagram onto your feed. For best practice, we recommend that you ask permission before reposting photos from other users, and always credit the original author in some way.

● MailChimp. Email marketing can help boost your social media presence dramatically. MailChimp gives businesses the ability to compile a mailing list, create a professional quality email campaign, and schedule it to send at any time. You can also utilize A/B testing features that allow you to improve your campaign’s effectiveness.

● Bitly. We’ve all seen the overwhelmingly long web URL that consists of countless numbers and letters. When posting to social media, longer links can look clunky and unappealing. Bitly can give you the ability to easily shorten links to virtually anything you’d like. Bitly also keeps track of a few basic analytics such as the number of clicks so you can see how many people are interested in the link.

In today’s age, social media plays a key role in most businesses, and social media requires quite a bit of time and attention. These tools are a great first step toward a better social media plan and can help free up some time in the process. When your business is ready to hand over your social media to the experts, OnPoint has you covered.

5 Tips For a Better Holiday Email Campaign

Craig De Borba

The holidays are a great time to reach out and attract attention to your brand, product, or service. However, with countless companies sending emails this time of year, how can you possibly stand out and capture reader attention? We’ve put together 5 tips to help you reach your audience and increase your clicks and conversion rates this holiday season.

Get noticed. Most people are constantly bombarded with a flood of promotional emails this time of year. If you’re unable to capture the reader’s attention with a subject line, the content inside is completely moot. Your subject line should pique interest and create urgency, while briefly explaining exactly what can be expected in the body of the message. Here are a few examples:
- “Flash Sale! 50% OFF Cameras – Today Only!”
- “Today Only: Save 20% Storewide w/ Free Shipping!”
- “How To Reach More Customers in Just 2 Weeks!”

Make an offer too good to pass. Note that we didn’t say “too good to be true.” Make sure that you’re able to follow through with the deals and specials you promote, otherwise it could hurt your business in the long run. Create deals that offer a superior value to the reader, such as saving money on a product or service, growing the brand, or saving time. Creating a sense of urgency will spark more interest and cause many people to respond right away instead of letting the deal sit in the back of their mind until it’s forgotten.

Less is more. We’ve all heard this term before, but it rings true on so many levels. We now live in a world where more people view emails and websites from mobile devices than a desktop computer. This means that what may seem easy to digest on a large screen is actually quite a turn-off for the mobile user. Keep verbiage concise and be clear about the intent of your message.

Use Quality Images. Graphics are a fantastic way to grab attention once the viewer has opened your email. When executed properly, including a simple graphic that explains the intent of your announcement can help your email look more professional and thought-out.

Avoid the spam. An easy way to lose subscribers is to send out too many emails in a short period of time. If you have 5 different products on sale, look for ways to consolidate content into one email announcement as opposed to sending out 5 separate emails.

For an improved customer experience, more click-through views, and improved holiday sales, consider implementing these 5 tactics into your holiday just as you start a seo campaign . If you’re interested in taking your email campaigns and digital marketing to the next level connect with OnPoint. We can help your business reach the next level of success. Happy Holidays!

9 Tips For a Better Stronger Logo

Craig De Borba

A logo is far more important than many people may think. When properly executed, it can be an abbreviated look into the business, and intrigue viewers to want to learn more about the brand. But what makes an effective logo? Here are 9 tips to get you on the right track!

Understand the brand. First and foremost, understand your brand. An effective logo demonstrates the vibe and tone of the brand. Are you selling surfboards, offering business consulting services, or are you an upscale restaurant? Make sure that your logo demonstrates the brand correctly.
Avoid cliches. Do your business a favor and avoid falling into the trap of creating a cliche logo. Learn from what’s trending, but don’t latch on to the same template that new businesses are currently using. Cliche logos can become old and tired rather quickly.
Choose clever symbols. The symbol, shape, or emblem can be a defining part of your logo. A clever symbol can help your logo stand out on your website branding, while a cliche symbol will make it forgettable. Think of products like Apple that don’t use a computer as their logo, which is what you may expect from a computer-based company.
Choose the right colors. There is a lot of psychology in colors that many people fail to recognize. Colors express the brand personality without needing words. For example, the color red is typically used to make a bold, energetic statement, while the color blue is generally used in a more professional, B2B, networking, or medical logo. Research colors and how they connect with users when designing your logo.
Make it digestible. How long does the viewer need to look at the logo to understand what’s going on? Your logo should be creative without going over the top. The average person will only glance at a logo for a few seconds. Make yours clean and easy to understand.
Make it memorable. Some of the most successful businesses have memorable logos that people recognize, even out of context. Take a second to brainstorm how you can make your logo memorable.
Give it a story. People love hearing the meaning behind a brand’s logo. When you create yours, find ways to incorporate meaning. Do three brothers own the business? Perhaps incorporate a three-part logo. Think outside the box and get creative by bringing the business history into the picture.
Be unique. A cliche logo may look hip, but you’re doing your business a huge disservice by looking like everyone else. Imagine other businesses in your industry. If you put all of their logos on a sheet of paper, what would separate your logo from theirs? Try different fonts, colors, and styles to give your logo a fresh look.
Ask for help. When it all comes down to it, your best bet may be to hire someone who is seasoned at logo design. You can try to handle it on your own, but a graphic web designer who has created logos in the past may be able to offer valuable design expertise. Be sure to express your business objectives and personality so they can capture the proper tone.

The right logo can be a focal point for your brand while building familiarity, recognition, and loyalty among your customers. With the millions of businesses online, the right logo, along with strategic marketing can help you stand out from the crowd and capture an audience. For help contact us, are you reaching as many people as you would like?

Improve Your Sacramento Website’s Speed and Appeal

Craig De Borba

In a world driven by social media, businesses often forget the power of a well-designed website. Social channels are highly effective in reaching out to find new leads, but a website gives your business an online storefront, a central location where users can learn everything they need to know about your company. There are a few things to keep in mind for maximizing your site’s potential. Here are 6 ways to improve the function and appeal of your website.

Understand the objective. Whether you’re building your site from scratch or revamping your existing site, it’s crucial to have a clear objective. Is the main function to sell a product, explain a service, provide industry news, or a personal blog? Knowing these details ahead of time will help you design a user friendly layout for your site.
Keep it simple. When building a site, it’s easy to get carried away with fancy plugins and flashy graphics. But the truth is all of those will bog down your site’s performance and likely distract the user from your product or service. Keeping things simple doesn’t mean that your site needs to be bland and boring. Creating a visually pleasing site can be achieved without going over the top.
Clean it up. You wouldn’t want people walking through your place of business when everything looks completely out of order. Your website is just as important, if not more, than a brick-and-mortar storefront. Create a clean homepage that grabs the user’s attention and immediately provides a clear value of the site.
Keep your pages clean and organized with each page of your site serving a clear purpose. Don’t go overboard on pages, as too many pages can create confusion.
Reduce file sizes. Large videos, photos, and flash files slow things down dramatically, especially for users with slower connection speeds. Studies show that if a site functionality is poor, a user is far less likely to continue browsing and will likely not return. You can still offer this content by creating smaller files and putting larger files on designated pages on the site. For example, instead of putting a 10-minute HD instructional video on your homepage, create a video thumbnail that brings the user to a new page when clicked. That way, your homepage loads quickly, while users who are interested in your video can still access it.
Keep things fresh. Give users a reason to want to return to your site by regularly updating the info, news, and other content on your site. Using a simple plugin to display business news or posts from your social channels can help keep your featured content relevant and timely.

Your website is an invaluable tool that can help reach users virtually anywhere and bring in revenue around the clock. Keep these 6 tips in mind for your site and you could be seeing a dramatic increase in traffic. Are you looking for help with your website or online web presence? OnPoint is located in Sacramento and specializes in internet marketing and is a Sacramento SEO expert . Want to hire a SEO or are looking to grow and increase their digital reach? Get in touch with us today to discuss your needs and possible solutions.

How To Figure And Increase Conversion Rates

Craig De Borba

Marketing can be expensive, so it is important to make sure your marketing budget is working effectively. To increase business and profits, converting potential customers into actual customers is crucial. Websites consider conversion rates as the percentage of potential clients who make a specific desired action. Before it’s possible to assess marketing practices and make more money, it’s important to understand how to figure conversion rates and make them grow.

How to Calculate Conversion Rates

Conversion rates refer to the percentage of events leading to another desired event. In the e-commerce world, they are calculated by dividing the number of orders received with the number of times a website was visited. If a website generates $100,000 over 2,000 orders in a month where 40,000 visitors were recorded, the conversion rate is 5 percent. In other words, five out of every 100 visits make $50 in company revenue.

How to Increase Conversion Rates

After learning how to figure conversion rates, it is helpful to uncover ways in which you can increase them. There are numerous tips that will bring success.

Add Testimonials. Customers always like to see feedback from other customers, especially when it is positive. Adding testimonials to a website is a smart way to build confidence from the public and heighten conversion.
Use Credible Symbols. Customers want to purchase from a trusted shopping source. Placing logos of the Better Business Bureau or using secure services like Verisign will always raise conversion rates.
Clearly Display Contact Information. All business websites should clearly display a phone number, email address, or live chat option. These encourage customers to ask questions and gain confidence in a product or service.
Update Headlines. Headlines grab the public’s attention and are the most important part of any webpage. Having an enticing headline encourages customers to consider making purchases. To keep things fresh and attract new business, it is essential to frequently change the headlines as well.
Offer Extended Guarantees. Customers like to know they have nothing to lose by trying new things. Elongating a product guarantee boosts confidence and increases conversion rates. Even extending a guarantee from 30 to 90 days will heighten business.

To improve a business’s conversion rates and lower bounce rates, it is important to track and follow them on a regular basis. This helps uncover things that are working well and areas that need improvement, plus it will increase your ROI on your SEO and marketing budget. Since conversion rates are directly related to sales and profits, the above tips will improve the company’s bottom line.

How to Run a Successful Contest on Social Media

Craig De Borba

You’ve probably heard that social media contests can be a great way to increase exposure for your brand. In many cases, this is true. A good social media contest allows you to connect with your existing audience in a meaningful way. It provides value to them, in return for their loyalty on social media.

Additionally, social media contests can be a good way to increase exposure within new audiences. When someone interacts with your contest on social media, it often appears in their friend’s Newsfeed, as contest engagement rates tend to be quite high. This can help increase your following if your contest is compelling. So how do you make your contest attention-grabbing?

Keep it Simple

The fastest way to sabotage a contest is to make it overly difficult, keep it basic. It’s typically best to ask the user to complete 1-2 simple actions to enter. That doesn’t mean that you can’t ask the contestant to ‘tag’ a friend or ‘share’ the post, just make sure you keep it uncomplicated.

Make the Prize Enticing

Entering a contest takes time and requires the follower to stop scrolling and complete an action. In order to get people to engage, you need to make sure the prize is worthwhile and relevant. Generally speaking, the larger the prize, the more you can safely ask of the audience. For example, if you’re giving away a free TV, you can ask the audience to give more information or take extra steps to promote the contest.

Set Terms

Make sure you clearly define the prize, entry mechanism, and timeline for your contests. Your audience needs to know what to do, what they will receive, and when they will obtain the prize. You also need to be clear about how you will select the winner. Are you selecting based on certain criteria or randomly? Just make sure the audience will be able to understand your contest, even if they’ve never engaged with your page or company before.

Spread the Word

The best contest is worthless if no one enters. Obviously using your social media channels are the natural way to spread the word, but don’t forget about your website and email lists. Do you have a blog? Write a post about the contest with links to where users can enter. You can also set the contest up for viral success by making people who enter ‘share’ the contests with their networks, too. For example, you could ask that they ‘like,’ ‘share,’ or ‘tag’ a friend in the post as a condition of entry. That can really help grow your reach!

Acknowledge the Winner

When your contest is over, and you have chosen a winner, publicly announce it. Obviously don’t share any private information you’ve gathered about the winner, but showing your audience that you actually awarded a prize and plan to hold another contest soon can help keep them interested in your page.

Have Fun!

The most important thing is to make your contest fun. Social media is meant to be enjoyable, and if you can entertain your followers, you’ll gain their confidence, trust, and attention.

If you need help developing ideas for a contest or promotion, the seasoned experts at OnPoint Internet Marketing can help.