I’ve talked a lot about WordPress but I haven’t explained why it’s better than all the typical offerings pitched to small companies (products from Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google, YellowPages.com, CitySearch, and others). Today I’ll do that in just 200 words. To accomplish my goal I’ll just hit the highlights and leave further explanation for later posts.

• It’s the tool the Pros use and there is good reason for that
• Offers you tremendous SEO out-of-the-box – this means FREE search engine marketing
• Easy to write and publish new content with no need for technical knowledge
• It can be a web site, a blog or both
• People like me all over the world are showing you how to use it – for free
• For less than $100 a year you can get an equivalent web site and blog for what you’d pay a designer or programmer $2-$5K for
• It’s really free, (called open source) only pay for web hosting
• Infinite design and feature customization
• Access to WordPress community of contributors numbering over 10,000 to assist with design, programming, training or consulting (size of community drives competitive pricing)
• Geek stuff under the hood helping you without you needing to know Geek

Top Ten reasons WordPress for Small Business beats the pants off the rest Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL -

QuickTime, iPhone or iPod Download.

In our session today, Episode 10 (run time 9:54) we cover how to get your small business web site and blog hosted and activated with our recommended web host MidPhase using a method called auto-install (also called a one-click install). In our next video how-to session we’ll cover how to select a FREE or Pro WordPress design for less than $100.

You may want to watch my previous posts on this topic where I have covered the reason why we recommend WordPress for your small business web site and blog. We also covered how to select a WordPress host which includes a useful web resource where you can read independent reviews on WordPress hosts.

By clicking on my link to MidPhase and then entering my discount code “GOTAPEX-ROX-01″ (no quotes) during the order process you’ll get three months of free hosting plus your domain name FREE for life. Make sure your MidPhase order confirmation page reflects the discount. The package should come out to less than $72 in total hosting costs for the year (12 months) at which time you’ll renew for the next year. Disclaimer: I receive a small commission if you sign up with MidPhase that helps me defray the cost of delivering Local Na8ion. Even if I wasn’t paid this fee we’d still recommend MidPhase because we’ve used them and they’ve lived up to their marketing claims.

I also mention in my video today that you should pick up a copy of WordPress For Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson. It’s the perfect desk reference and self-paced study guide to help you learn WordPress. Grab a copy of WordPress For Dummies today.

Let’s recap why we recommend WordPress for small businesses in the first place.

From my Jan. 28, 2008 post “We Recommend WordPress for Small Business”

“It’s FREE, easy to use and update, has more built-in Local SEO Goodness than any comparable product, and you can use it to power your regular web site, not just a blog.”

and

“Did we mention that WordPress has an active community of over 10,000 contributors? They’re busy year-round making new theme designs that you can use on your site (most are free to use) along with adding specialty features and functionality (called plug-ins in WordPress) that do everything from power a job board, help you run a newspaper, or make the SEO goodness in WordPress even better.”

I hope you enjoy today’s video and as always, let me know your questions and comments.

Julian Seery Gude
editor Local Na8ion
Where you are is where it’s at

I am a happy midPhase affiliate and use and recommend their service. The majority of products and services I recommend do not pay me. But on the rare occasion where I’m both very satisfied with a product/service AND they have an affiliate program I will happily use it! If you’re interested in an alternative to midphase that is faster (also more expensive) try MediaLayer’s AppLayer hosting -it’s awesome!

Hosting your WordPress Small Business Web Site on Midphase and using Auto-Install | Episode 10 Local Knowledge Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL -

One of the points I made in my series is that aspects of social media (like blogs) have been over hyped. That’s resulted in people tuning them out – especially companies that look to more proven and mainstream ways to advertise and market their business.

Here’s an excerpt

“Monday 9:30 a.m. It’s time for a frank talk. And no, it can’t wait. We know, we know: Most of you are sick to death of blogs. Don’t even want to hear about these millions of online journals that link together into a vast network. And yes, there’s plenty out there not to like. Self-obsession, politics of hate, and the same hunger for fame that has people lining up to trade punches on The Jerry Springer Show. Name just about anything that’s sick in our society today, and it’s on parade in the blogs. On lots of them, even the writing stinks.

Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they’re simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself. And they’re going to shake up just about every business—including yours.”

Here’s the full article called “Social Media Will Change Your Business“

Julian Seery Gude
editor, Local Na8ion
Where you are is where it’s at

Oh no, not another story on social media for small business Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL -

QuickTime, iPhone or iPod Download.

If you are like most people you do not like hype and that may well have kept you from exploring social media as a tool to bring you new business. After all, the fervor and hype surrounding things like Blogs, Facebook, Second Life and the cool kid applications like Twitter are enough to make you puke.

Here’s the thing though – there are also really practical applications of social media that represent big opportunities for small businesses to market yourselves for free.

In the next two sessions I’ll try to dispel some of the hype about social media and show you three to four practical social media tools that almost any business or local marketer can use today to win new local customers. I hope you will give social media a try and come to realize what I have – that social media is beyond hype – it’s revolutionary.

In this episode (runtime 9:58) I’ll explore some pitfalls of social media and also outline a simple definition of social media. I’ll finish by discussing two great social media tools that you should focus on today. My next session will cap things off with my final two social media recommendations for businesses that want to attract new local customers from their town or city.

I mention during the podcast that I would link to a previous post on how small business people can quickly create blog content for use in their blog marketing campaigns. Here’s the post I wrote back in January called The best kept secret for quickly creating new content for your blog and web site.

Julian Seery Gude
editor Local Na8ion
Where you are is where it’s at

Episode 9b: Social Media for Small Business and Local Marketers Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL -

QuickTime, iPhone or iPod Download.

In this three two-part series I discuss using social media to connect with local customers (run time 8 minutes).

First up, I’ll relate a personal story about a great new site called Alltop.com, and how using social media got Local Nation listed on the small business section of Alltop.

In my follow-up vlog session I’ll give you three practical uses for social media that can help you build traffic for your site and win new business from your local marketplace.

Saving loads of money on marketing expense highlights a fundamental value of social media marketing – that is, you can connect with customers online without spending a dime. The visitors I’ve already received from Alltop would easily have cost me thousands of dollars to acquire if I were to have used traditional online media like banner ads or offline media like Yellow Pages or Newspapers. Do I have your attention yet? Great!

Yes, using social media in your marketing mix will save you tons of money, but that’s not the only reason you should consider it. There’s also a very good chance that social media will connect you with new customers who aren’t using traditional advertising to find local products and services. This number is already large and grows bigger each day. Sure, some of them are younger and you may or may not care about this market (yet) but I can assure you that some social media tools connect with every age, race and demographic group. In other words, there are social media tools that you can’t afford to ignore.

I’ll end with a BIG THANK YOU to Guy Kawasaki, Kathryn Henkens, and Will Mayall who run Nononina the company that produces both Alltop and other sites like Truemors.

And now for a story about Julian (that’s me) and a guy named Guy.

Julian Seery Gude, editor Local Na8ion – Where you are is where it’s at.

Watch part II in our series on social media for small business and local marketers.

Episode 9a: Social Media for Small Business and Local Marketers Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL -

Episode 2:

Is your small business contemplating the use of a blog for marketing or customer outreach in your Local Search or Local Internet Marketing Plan?

Are you wondering if there’s room out on the web for one more blog?

In episode 2 of our Local Na8ion video show I ask and answer the question!

Show Notes

In episode 2 this 12:30 Local Na8ion video I talk about the latest updated blog numbers from blog search engine Technorati founder David Sifry and what that means to your own local online marketing plan. By the way, if you want a great RSS feed reader then look no further than the FREE Google Reader. If you’d like to try others, here’s a list of some of the most popular RSS feed readers from ProBlogger.

During our show I mentioned that I’d find and link to a great piece of content that describes what RSS is. I think the video below from Lee LeFever at CommonCraft more than fulfills that promise. It’s the best content I’ve found that summarizes how you can use RSS and how it will help you. Thanks to Lee LeFever at CommonCraft for making this fantastic piece (I love it!).

Room for one more blog Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL -

This article covers the major motivations and reasons that led to our re-launch as a resource for local marketers that want to learn about free and low-cost methods of online marketing and publishing. Read this article if you’re sick of the status quo from local media publishers and service providers.

Why I started LOCAL Na8ion™

by Julian Seery Gude
Editor of LOCAL Na8ion and President of exceler8 Corporation

The old ways of marketing never worked that well and they’re getting worse all the time

I have a lifetime of experience in exploring the leading-edge of technology and after 20+ years working in the local publishing and advertising industry I’ve learned a lot of what there is to know about how companies large and small can connect with buyers using both traditional and state-of-the-art tools and methods. I’ve learned a lot about the local buyer that wants to buy products and services in their city or town. The Internet and social changes in how we interact through the web have fundamentally changed the landscape in every facet of life; and yet there remains a visceral physical connection that we seek out in everything from our personal relationships to the people we associate with and the stuff we buy. Along my life journey I’ve found myself acting in personal and professional capacities where, regardless of my title, I’ve sought out the best in people and the best in technology. That passion has led me to form a belief that maximum human performance and business results can best be achieved using tools and technology the right way where human factors are front-and-center and our focus remains on the results we want to achieve, rather than the sexiness of the gadget or tool being employed.

In the advertising business I’ve worked to help both local and national marketers but I’ve seen far too many dashed dreams and wasted money spent on ineffective ads that did nothing more than drain my client’s bank accounts and leave them searching for the truth of what truly works in marketing their business.

Traditional forms or print, broadcast, and even online media (like banner ads) are becoming increasingly irrelevant with consumers who we’ve made wholly skeptical by our outrageous marketing claims. People are now more time and attention starved than at any time in history which makes us increasingly reliant on good products and services that solve our problems but ever more guarded about marketing and sales pitches. While this is happening there are new, less expensive, more trustworthy, and more human ways to connect with customers directly (without the middle man). You might think that as a marketer I’d be shaking in my boots but nothing could be further from the truth. We’re finally starting to realize an ideal that we’ve always yearned for, that truth take center stage in the best marketing campaigns and practices.

Independent, beholden to none, and dangerous

A little over two years ago I struck out on my own, leaving behind Corporate America and the security of a fat paycheck and rich health benefits. For my leap of faith I won some freedom, but most importantly, I got rid of the company line, the one I’d been carrying around like a ball and chain for 20 years. I’ve worked for many of America’s largest local publishing and advertising companies, including GTE and Pacific Bell Yellow Pages, and SBC (now AT&T) along with Knight Ridder, formerly the second largest U.S. Publisher of print and online newspapers, publishing 32 daily newspapers across the U.S. including prominent newspaper and online publications like The San Jose Mercury News, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Miami Herald.

Like many other entrepreneurs I’ve been doing my best to attract clients, build sales, and handle my business operations (oh yeah and take care of two little kids). Like you I have to find new customers (or else) balance a meager “bootstrapped” budget and make sure I use the best free or inexpensive tools I can get my hands on. My background and hands-on experience in marketing, technology, the Internet, and the wave of web 2.0 tools, services, and publishing methods have given me a real competitive advantage.

Not long ago, after learning the hard way from making my own mistakes (in areas where I’m not nearly so expert) I realized how I could best help people while still feeding myself and my family. I realized that I had the expertise and desire to help entrepreneurs like me make a better life for themselves by combining my love for the application of technology with my traditional and new media background. We all have unique talents and I am among those that believe that it’s our place to use these qualities to better our lives, that of our family and friends, and for the greater good.

My best work has always come in bringing together people and technology (using technology in smart ways) and I’ve tried to combine this talent with marketing in new and inventive combinations. Up until the mid 90’s my passion for computers and technology and my career in advertising were largely separate. Then the Internet happened and I was working right at the epicenter of the Internet revolution that started in Silicon Valley. Finally, the dream that led me to pack all my belongings in my car a decade earlier and drive across the country to live and work in technology in Silicon Valley came to pass. But it was my practical experience from my ‘diversion’ in local advertising that connected my two worlds of technology and marketing and soon I was busy transforming the largest print Yellow Pages and Print Newspaper companies into their new online equivalents.

Web 2.0 and Social Media

Then came the second wave of the Internet – the much-heralded Web 2.0. With Web 2.0 we ushered in revolutionary interactive online tools that have transformed online publishing and brought people together. This is the revolution in personal publishing you’ve heard so much about that is largely driven by tools like blogs, trusted social networks like MySpace, Facebook, Linked-in, and Second Life, user generated content on sites like YouTube, and everywhere communities of like-minded people, informing each other and organizing themselves around like-interests and passions.

These new tools that enable interaction, collaboration, and connection between people, are called Social Media. Most of them are free to participate in but they’re not meant as vehicles for your ads. They’re highly participative and interactive in nature. You don’t just throw your fishing line or business card in to the waters of social media with the expectation that fish will clamor to jump on your hook! You build your reputation and your brand with these tools and establish your credibility and this positions you to win new business. These tools and communities represent an opportunity for connecting:

people with needs and people with solutions,
people in search of answers with people who hold them,
people who are experts with people who are novices,
people who are buyers with people who are sellers.

If done the right way, openly and honestly, and relevantly, you can use these tools, social networks, and communities to help make new connections and strengthen existing ones.

Like many new tools, early uses of social media for marketing backfired because companies and marketers tried to use the new medium in an old way. That didn’t work out so well for the companies who used traditional marketing tactics like subterfuge and manipulation to win over consumers. But as things are maturing these practices are being used less and less and more people are realizing that something new and positive is afoot.

Perhaps the most exciting news to local advertisers who don’t have large ad budgets to support ‘branding’ campaigns like Coca-Cola, is that social media are now driving significant traffic to web sites in the form of improved search engine rankings. Today, it has become realistic to use social media and search engines to build a thriving local business without buying paid ads.

The role of search engines – local buyers looking for local sellers online

There is another aspect of the web that is separate but interrelated to social media and it speaks more to the direct sales or fishing line analogy I used previously. This is the place where you put your fishing line in the water and if you’ve done your job with your product and your web site, your brand, and your social media, you can expect to land some big fish. They come to you. Search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN Live and their local versions are intended to connect people, including local buyers and sellers. These tools represent an opportunity to connect with your customers very efficiently. You can do this at no cost by tapping into organic search engine traffic, or at a very low cost (compared to traditional media) with paid local search engine traffic. You can’t order a mechanic up from India to work on your Ford in Des Moine. And Zappos.com and Amazon.com can ship you an order for shoes or books but they can’t get them to you today, before you hop your plane on a business trip.

The problem with you – the local marketer

Online methods of publishing a business web site and marketing your company online to local customers haven’t kept pace with gains seen in big business. There’s a simple reason, you’re not worth all the time and effort. Old and new media companies alike spend all their time going after the big national advertisers that have local locations (think Best Buy) or super regional businesses like Car dealers, appliance stores, and mega real estate developers. Frankly, you’ve been left out in the cold and subjected to lame service and cookie-cutter product offerings.

Meanwhile for big business, the Internet revolution has ushered in previously unheard of profits, along with major increases in capability, quality, and service. The problem with the old publishing and marketing powerhouses, be they Yellow Pages publishers, Newspaper companies or TV and Radio networks, and the ad agencies or service businesses built around them, is that their offerings and services are based on outmoded models, cost structures, and tools that don’t pass on the advantages and savings of the latest Internet technology. That and it would seem outright greed. It’s like working on making a better horse carriage when the rest of the world is already moving on from the combustion engine to alternative powered vehicles.

Old media companies and newspaper publishers can’t get out of their own way fast enough and as a small business owner or entrepreneur you’re the one who is paying for it. In most cases these content and media companies have simply re-purposed print or old broadcast methods online – including the crappy ads that don’t work anymore. This isn’t innovation and it doesn’t represent what your business needs today.

The truth is that these new tools and methods are accessible to anyone; you just need someone with a vision of how to put them together to tell you the truth about how to do that. Why hasn’t that happened? Mostly because people are too busy trying to fatten their own profits at the expense of yours. For the entrenched companies their stockholders or profit models are built on things being the old way and their only option is to hold on to what they’ve got for as long as we’ll let them (Moooo – that’s the cash cow calling). They’re counting on you remaining in the dark.

What are we to do about it? Plenty.

We’re not going to let that happen. What’s true today is that individuals with these new powerful self-publishing tools have already proven that we can’t be kept in the dark and fed who know’s what. We don’t accept this any more today than we will blindly accept a politician’s campaign-trail-rhetoric or a television network’s sensationalized version of ‘news reporting.’

Dummied-down

There’s another smaller but troubling problem in the local web site publishing and marketing world. Companies and service providers like my former employers and big Internet players spend a huge amount of time and money dummying-down their products and services to small business based on an incorrect assumption: that small business people aren’t smart enough or capable enough to do it themselves. If they only knew. Even if this is well intended, it often has the effect of excluding you from the cutting edge technology and advertising solutions that represent your biggest opportunity. They also put a big fat tax on their services that you end up paying for. Not only do you pay for them governing your capability with dummied down tools (think AOL) it also introduces unnecessary layers of costs, bureaucracy and technology that you don’t want or need. What’s even sadder is that these “simplified” products are often just as complicated as their “professional” counterparts.

So basically they’re all evil, does that cover it?

After talking about all these negatives it may sound like we don’t see any value in paid local marketing methods or media. That’s not true and we’ll be writing about local media and services that we know DO work. When we do write about local marketing and media services you can rest assured that we’re telling the truth because we don’t take advertising from these companies and we don’t get paid if we recommend their services. Although we perform ad agency functions we won’t take a typical agency commission if we end up placing ads on your behalf either – instead we’ll just pass along those savings to you.

Unbiased and Free to speak our minds

Local Na8ion is unbiased in our recommendations about the tools we recommend because we’re not beholden to anyone, any company, or an old business model that we have to protect. We won’t accept ads from service providers or media companies that we review. And we also know what the big guys know because we worked for them.

We will give you useful free content that we believe will be very valuable to you. That’s good because we want to establish trust and our credibility with you. In fact we depend on it since we’re upfront about how we make money. Speaking of us making money that’s simple enough. We’ll sell some ads to companies that have no conflict of interest with our offering, we’ll offer you our consulting and contract services if you want them and in 2008 we’ll offer low priced online video tutorials and e-books to streamline and jump-start your efforts.

Where are we going

It’s my goal to establish Local Na8ion as the #1 online community to turn to when you want to know what really works in local online publishing and marketing. If it’s about using free state-of-the-art publishing tools to relaunch your company web site or blog then I’d like you to think about LOCAL Na8ion. If it’s about real experience and knowhow in employing the most efficient and inexpensive online marketing methods to drive new sales, come here, learn here and contribute. We’re working out on the edge and we know we don’t have all the answers all the time but we know that figuring them out for ourselves is a hell of a lot better than being fed the B.S. on the regular menu.

Getting involved, come read and come contribute

If you like the sound of what we’ve got to say than I say Local Na8ion is a community for you. Come ask your questions, tell us what you’re doing that’s worked, and what’s bombed. One of the best parts about local advertising is that the ideas that work in one town for one type of business can work elsewhere – and sharing your knowledge is unlikely to hurt you. You do more good in learning from your contribution than hording your knowledge as if no one will ever figure it out.

Not the do-it-yourself type? Hire us.

We understand. While we fundamentally believe anyone can use the information and tools we champion to empower their business we also know that it doesn’t always make the most business sense to do so. Let’s put it this way, I’m not real big on accounting and I’m happy there are professionals who can take care of my books and Uncle Sam so I can focus on doing what I do best.

Local Na8ion’s experts can employ our three-phase marketing and publishing method for you for much less than you might think. We don’t have any high costs to pass on to you because our business is powered by the many free or low cost tools we herald. We wield these tools and employ our methods with the same kind of expert touch that a master craftsman would in building your home. Our prices go to paying for the best craftsman, doing their best work – nothing more. In the future we also plan to offer our community low priced online video tutorials and e-books to streamline and jump-start your efforts.

All the best!

Revolutionizing local Internet marketing, web publishing, and design for the local business and entrepreneur Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL -