Archive for the ‘Deals’ Category
Instant Gifting for the Entrepreneur on Your List
Monday, December 24th, 2012Entrepreneurs aren’t always the best at observing holidays, weekends, mealtimes or sleep times. Sometimes our tunnel vision towards our business means we forget to focus on our holiday shopping until it’s too late, but we have a solution.
When you have procrastinated up to the point that even “overnight shipping” isn’t even an option (and who likes to pay a ransom for overnight shipping anyway?!?), then we still can buy “digital presents” that can be given and received instantly, anywhere in the world through an internet connection.
If you’re an entrepreneur who’s searching for a very very last minute gift for another entrepreneur, here are four suggestions.
1. “Confessions from an Entrepreneur, Vol. 1” by Ash Kumra. Here’s an enjoyable downloadable (Kindle) read that costs $4.99 – less than a double latte and a scone. Ash has compiled stories and shared wisdom from 35 seasoned entrepreneurs. Just released last week, it’s a great “virtual stocking stuffer” and at this price, it’s a better deal than one of those singing greeting cards.
2. “Small Town Rules: How Big Brands and Small Businesses Can Prosper in a Connected Economy” by Barry Moltz and Becky McCray. Still under $10 (actually $9 at the time of this recommendation), this relatively new book is a helpful tome for every small business owner looking for an edge in a challenging economy. Barry has authored many books on small business and entrepreneurship, and this is definitely one of his best.
3. “Marketing that Works: How Entrepreneurial Marketing Can Add Sustainable Value to Any Sized Company” by Howard Morgan and others. This book was written by some of the best minds in startup marketing who have held prominent positions in blockbuster startups, idealab!, Wharton and venture capital. It includes practical approaches (not just theoretical) to developing business ideas, pricing, market validation, distribution and channel strategies, product launches and more. At less than $20, it’s a bargain for what it can teach you.
4. ActSeed Entrepreneur Group Membership Special. This may be a gift you want to get for yourself instead of another entrepreneur. Through the end of 2012, mention this article and get a lifetime membership to ActSeed’s Entrepreneur Group resources, a feature article about your business published on ActSeed.com and a national press release that highlights your business – all for less than the cost of a standard 1-year membership to the ActSeed Entrepreneur Group. A national press release alone can cost $1,500 or more (accounting for a PR person to draft it and the wire fees to release it). At $375, all-in, you get visibility and a practical diagnostic for your business (the “ActSeed Profile”). Contact us at info@actseed.com and mention this promotion to get set up.
We hope you and your business benefit from these recommendations, and we wish you a prosperous 2013!
Rank #1 on Google
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012How Your Business Can Reach the First Page of a Google Search
In this article, we explain search engine ranking strategies and recommend a service that can help you dramatically boost your ranking.
What does a #1 rank on the first page of a search result on Google mean to you?
The first link in a search result means 90% of the traffic goes to your site. Being #2 means traffic drops to 58%. The tenth search result gets 12% of the traffic. Falling to the second page of search results means less than 10% of the traffic, and forget about any attention after page 2. Most entrepreneurs don’t have primetime advertising budgets, but getting ranked #1 in a Google search can be affordable and will vault your business, brand and revenues.
While Google constantly changes their ranking algorithms, the single largest factor in determining your web page’s rank is still something called “backlinks”. This simply means that someone has provided a link to your web page from their web page. More backlinks to your page suggest to Google that your content is valuable and interesting.
So, how can you get more backlinks to your site?
There’s a whole service industry built around helping web sites improve their ranking. It’s commonly called “search engine optimization” or “SEO”.
Like most promotional strategies, there are right ways and wrong ways to do this. There are services called “link farms” that will, for a fee, create links back to your web pages. Most of these services are tantamount to “link spam”, and Google may penalize you for lots of junky links and actually remove your page from search results.
The right way to do this is, of course, create quality content and be active in social media. We also found a great service that can dramatically and rapidly improve your ranking by helping you build quality backlinks in a way that won’t cause Google to penalize you.
With 5 years of research and 20 patent claims, a company called Blog Distributor has emerged as a wonderful resource for startups and small businesses that want to boost their Google search rank. We have witnessed this service help companies that didn’t even show up in the first dozen pages of the results (ranking lower than 120th) to #1 in as few as two months for the cost of a couple ads in a local newspaper, but far greater impact. Of course, if your chosen search phrase is popular, it may take a bit longer and cost a bit more.
ActSeed has arranged a deal with Blog Distributor to offer a free consultation for ranking your web page. This is available to entrepreneurs, small business owners, SEO firms, PR firms and social media firms. This is valuable to all. Just complete the form below and we’ll help arrange the consultation.
ActSeed Partners with GoHealth to Provide Health Insurance to Self-Employed Entrepreneurs
Wednesday, July 11th, 2012Sole proprietors who don’t qualify for group health insurance plans now have an efficient way to explore options for coverage anywhere in the USA.
Orlando, FL (July 12, 2012) – ActSeed has teamed up with GoHealth Insurance to help 15 million self-employed individuals in the US find affordable health insurance for themselves and their immediate families. Now, an individual can complete a simple web form, receive a preliminary quote instantly and start the process of acquiring insurance within all of the 50 US states.
“At ActSeed, we constantly hear from self-employed entrepreneurs who seek affordable health insurance, but don’t know where to turn,” said Bill Attinger, CEO of ActSeed. “Instead of wasting valuable hours trying to research options through Google, we want to direct our community members to GoHealth, where sole-proprietors can quickly find the best and most appropriate health insurance plan for themselves and for their immediate families. The sooner we can help a solopreneur secure affordable insurance, the sooner they can get back to serving their customers and growing their business, so everyone wins.”
According to the US Department of Labor in June 2012, approximately 1 out of every 9 people in the labor force is self employed. Furthermore, according to a 2011 survey by the National Association for the Self-Employed, more than 12% of these “solopreneurs” do not currently have health insurance.
Sole proprietorships and one-person companies depend heavily upon a single individual to maintain operations. A significant health issue can derail a one-person company and quickly bankrupt the proprietor with health care bills and loss of revenue.
“With our service, we make it easy to shop, compare and purchase health insurance for individuals, families and entrepreneurs alike,” said Mark Colwell, Manager of Consumer Marketing at GoHealth. “The CEO and President of GoHealth actually founded the company because it was so confusing to compare their coverage options as young entrepreneurs. They knew they could utilize technology to help make the tedious task of purchasing coverage much simpler. Now after more than 10 years in the industry, we’ve helped nearly 30 million people shop and purchase health insurance.”
About GoHealth Insurance
GoHealth and its customer-facing website GoHealthInsurance.com is a health insurance technology platform, working with over 100 health insurance carriers and more than 10,000 licensed agents across the United States. Since the company’s founding in 2001, the GoHealth platform has helped nearly 30 million Americans shop and purchase health coverage. GoHealth, based in Chicago, Illinois, was recently named in the top 100 best workplaces in Chicago by the Chicago Tribune and is one of Inc 500’s fastest growing companies in America.
Contact Mark Colwell by emailing mcolwell@gohealth.com or visit www.gohealthinsurance.com.
About ActSeed
ActSeed is a national online community for startups, early stage companies and small businesses, primarily focused in the US. Since 2009, ActSeed has been helping reduce the unacceptably high failure rate of early stage businesses by connecting thousands of entrepreneurs to tools and resources critical for growing their businesses. To learn more, please visit www.actseed.com.
If you would like more information about this topic or to arrange an interview with Bill Attinger, please send an email to media@actseed.com.
Insurance for Startups, Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs
Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
Most early stage businesses have two great challenges related to business risk:
- Navigating the myriad complexities of business insurance and group health insurance plans and
- Being able to afford a plan once you’ve figured out what you need
When we were young, most of us received a barrage of vaccines to inoculate us against deadly disease and boost our immunity to health risk. Securing business insurance at an early stage does the same thing for our companies. A little bit of insurance planning can mean the difference between your company’s survival and death.
After receiving inquiries from hundreds of entrepreneurs wondering how and where to start their HR and business insurance planning or where to find affordable group health insurance plans, we created a solution.
ActSeed has partnered with some premier companies in the field of HR outsourcing and small business insurance services. Now, all you need to do to get started is complete the form below, and we can get you connected to experts in HR and insurance who can answer your questions and help you put together an affordable plan of action. If you are having trouble with the form, just send us an email to: info (at) actseed (dot) com.
Protect your people. Protect your business. Protect yourself.
How to Find More Customers
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012Three Things You Must Do to Attract People to Your Business
One of the greatest challenges for a young business is getting customer traction. This rarely happens overnight; however, it won’t cost a fortune or take forever when you apply these three practices:
1. Optimize the message. Make sure the message is clear. The content of the press release, the tweet, the Facebook post must be concise and to the point. We live in an era of multi-media, so the message can also have embedded video and photos. The old way of doing press releases is dead. Press releases are also searchable by keyword phrases. Make sure your press and social media is written so reporters and media professionals can find you.
2. Open a dialogue. Make sure you can listen to your customers as well as you can talk to them. Gone are the days when you use your mouth, but not your ears. When you write a press release, tweet or post a blog or Facebook entry, you need to give your audience the opportunity to reply AND you must have a way to collect those replies. Using your mouth and ears must be followed by using your brain to evolve your message and your business.
3. Be consistent. Be constant. Be patient. One tweet or press release won’t do anything. One thousand tweets or ten press releases in one day won’t either. A steady flow of information reinforces your message and steadily reminds your customers about your business. Trust isn’t built on a one night stand. Trust is built over time, so understand that you must commit time and discipline to your PR and social media activity.
We constantly hear from fellow entrepreneurs who want a winning PR and social media strategy, but they don’t believe they have the time or the money. Well, it doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars each month or take half of each day to get results.
We found a solution.
We found a solution we like so well that we partnered with them to bring it to you. A company called Vocus, based in Maryland, has created a suite of PR and marketing tools just for startups and small businesses.
From a single dashboard, we can
- Create press releases and deliver them to thousands of reporters and journalists,
- Track activity in our Twitter and Facebook accounts, and receive suggestions for engaging our audience, and
- Receive inquiries from journalists and bloggers who are looking to write stories that could feature us.
Using Vocus, our followers and interaction have increased on Twitter and Facebook and we’re spending much less time while getting better results. Vocus is easy enough to use that you can be completely new to PR or social media and become proficient within a day. Vocus also has great white papers, guides and webinars to educate you on the latest trends and strategies in public relations and social media.
Check it out. They have given us a deal to share with the ActSeed community, and you can see it firsthand in a really compelling personalized demo by clicking here.
