Hi everyone!!

I have been on here for awhile and after reading through so much information, I finally have my business up and running. Sweetie Pie Baby Boutique is a natural and organic baby product business. Now here is the next issue..marketing!! I need help to get my business out there. I currently have a blog, belong to a couple of mom forums, participating in contests with other mom businesses, but I need more. Can anyone offer any other creative suggestions on how to get my business out there? Here is my website so you can have an idea of what my business is about. www.sweetiepiebaby.com. All comments, feedback, and suggestions are greatly welcomed!!

Cameo
Owner
Sweetie Pie Baby Boutique
www.sweetiepiebaby.com

Hi Cameo,

1) Start your own newsletter.

2) Have you tried search engines?

a) Google, Yahoo! and MSN submissions into their information-based search engines (google.com, yahoo.com, msn.com) if you're not listed in their search engines already.

b) Google, Yahoo!, MSN and about 40 other product/comparison search engine submissions (google.com/products, shopping.yahoo.com, shopping.msn.com and others.)

3) Subscribe to the PHT Times newsletter that gives you insight on what you need to do to stay in front of your competitors. Topics include various types of marketing (search engines, blogs, mobile) site design, customer service and more.

To subscribe, visit www.phardy.com. Scroll half way down the page and on the left-hand side, enter your name and email address. You will receive an email. In the email, follow the directions to confirm your subscription and you will be immediately placed on an elite list of businesses owners who have profited from the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time but very few people do.

Regards,

Pat Hardy
P Hardy Technologies, Inc.
When Retail Profits Count.
50 Charles Lindbergh Blvd. #400 Uniondale, NY 11553
1-800-896-4022 / 516-342-4825
Interested in doubling sales & profits this year? Visit: www.phardy.com for more info.

Your website is gorgeous. I didn't go anywhere but the landing page, but it looks great! Well done.

At this point I would consider connecting with various La Leche leagues and offering the mothers discounts for being members.

You might want to see about doing some co-marketing with some of your suppliers (if you have any).

At this point, using press releases and article marketing is a great way to go.

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

Tina,

Thanks for the compliment and for the suggestions. I think they are wonderful ways to getting out there and I will definitely start working on them.

Im also working on a press release right now as well. I know it takes time to build your business, I just want to make sure Im on the right track!!:)

Thanks again!

Hi Cameo.

Your web site DOES have eye appeal and IS professional looking, so it sounds like the missing ingredient, right now, is producing more traffic.

One important Internet directory that you appear to be missing from is dmoz.org. ("Open Directory Project). Submitting your web site to that (and other free or low-cost directories) will help raise your visibility, increase your 'incoming backlinks' (a vital element of achieving a high search engine ranking), and help you attract more customers to your site.

In my opinion, submitting your site to DMOZ should be at the top of your list of things to do to improve your Internet traffic and overall visibility. (A second good strategy would be writing and submitting informative articles--with links back to your site-- to article directories, such as http://ezinearticles.com .

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Joel Sussman
http://www.mountainmedia.com/About-Us-c14.html

Joel,

Thanks for that wonderful information!!! I am working on it right now. Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed!

Cameo Hoey
Sweetie Pie Baby Boutique
www.sweetiepiebaby.com
cameo@sweetiepiebaby.com

Nice site :-)
How about local (realworld) marketing.
Leaving business cards, brochures or flyers at shops.


hmmm leave some in doctor office waiting rooms.

It took me several emails before my company found itself actually listed on DMOZ after I'd applied... and frankly, I'm not really sure it added so much to my SEO... but every little bit helps.

One thing that I noticed... once the link/article is up and running... linking to it from the website has value.

T

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

Cameo,

Your website looks very professional. A great website you should check out that has helped me with marketing is www.work.com. They have sooo many guides to marketing.



Wanda McDowell
Owner
InfaCity LLC
www.infacity.com

Wanda thanks for that info!

Your website is gorgeous. Great color use and photographs. What keywords are you trying to rank for on the search engines? Make sure you use them early and often in some content on your homepage. The google bots love content. With that in mind, write a series of articles and submit them to article directories on a periodic basis. Top ones are:

www.ezinearticles.com
www.GoArticles.com
www.WebProNews.com
www.ArticleDashboard.com
www.SearchWarp.com
www.Isnare.com
www.buzzle.com
www.AmericanChronicle.com
www.IdeaMarketers.com
www.ArticleCity.com

Also write some articles for content sharing sites like www.HubPages.com, www.squidoo.com, or www.gather.com. Generate a following there as well.

Back to your website, make sure each of your title tags on your interior pages have the keywords you are ranking for.

If you really want to generate traffic, put an entertaining series of videos together. They don't have to be fancy. They can look home based. But "entertaining" is the key. Get them on YouTube and include your URL on the video either on the lower right corner or on the last video clip. Use the keywords you want to rank for in the description of your video. You can embed the video onto your blog. There is a company called www.TrafficGeyser.com that automates the process of distributing videos.

If you need more help on how to optimize your website or basic questions about starting your biz, go to www.innoventum.com. They have a free pdf you can download that covers everything about starting a business. Short read, but something to keep on your resource shelf.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for this info!!! This is alot of work but I am working on it now!!!!:)

-Cameo

Hello Cameo,

If your looking for a "quick pick me up" in the search engines,
you can create a toolbar, then submit the information about your toolbar to Software Directories.

This will rapidly increase your one-way back-links.

Check out Michelle MacPhearson's
http://www.30minutebacklinks.com

Hope this helps! ;)

Jeff