Just came across this video on YouTube where Reachd.com interviews Matt Cutts from Google.

There’s some really interesting stuff about WordPress, SEO, sitemaps and what small businesses can achieve for free with things like Google Maps or Google Webmaster Central. For estate agents / realtors you might like to hear about Google Base.

A great piece of advice is that if you’re adding video or audio to your site, for extra SEO cred, make sure you add a transcript! Anyway, watch the video, take some notes and enjoy.

At long last here is a summary of the latest reader poll. This time around I didn’t get a massive turnout of voters, but none the les the results are quite interesting.

The question I asked was:

Have you ever bought a product with Private Label or Master Resell rights and never used it?

And the results:

75% Yes
25% No

Interesting! I know I’ve certainly done this. Bought a couple of ebooks with the intention of reselling them for a profit. However several months down the line they’re still sitting on my C Drive “gathering dust”. I see most of these products in the make money online niche and whilst I do truly believe you can make money this way, you do have to know what you’re doing.

I suggest only buying these products if they come with comprehensive instructions on how to set up a sales page, how to take payments and what exactly you have the rights to do. A money back guarantee is helpful and of course if you don’t have a big email list to sell to, you probably need to think about building this first also.

Well, the next poll is now live and the question is:

Which of the following marketing methods have you found most useful for growing your small business?

Networking
PR
Telesales
Website
Events
Promotions
Advertising
Other

You will see the poll on the top right of the page! It’s free to participate and takes about 10 seconds, so please don’t be shy.

A couple of weeks ago I attended an Own-IT event all about the legal side to blogging. I was introduced to the event by Improbulus and a huge thanks there as it turned out to be a very educational evening.

It started with a presentation from Dan at MindCandy and then moved on to a chap called Robert Lands from legal firm Finers Stephens Innocent LLP . (Incidentally Robert, the invitation to speak at the London Bloggers Meetup still stands. If you’re interested do please let me know when you’re available).

I found Robert’s presentation very engaging and his relaxed style made it easy listening. No disrespect to the legal profession, but they are not known for their humour..

So what are the top 10 tips I took away from Robert’s presentation**

2. Yes you can get fired if you blog about your job, employer or other employees, even if you change the names involved. If it’s possible for readers to interpret what you’ve written as being about your employer, you’ve had it.. and there are plenty of examples of this.

3. As a blogger you are seen by the law as a professional journalist and publisher. Therefore anything you write about a person or company in a defamatory way leaves you open to being sued for libel (this is more relevant in the UK than the US as apparently we have tighter controls on freedom of speech).

4. If your server is in India how can I be sued by someone in the US? Well it seems you can, the law of the land where your media is consumed is most important. So in the understanding that nobody knows the laws of every land, you might want to add a ‘terms of use’ page to your site stating something like ‘if you read this blog you agree to be bound by the laws of (your home country)…..’ or words to that effect. Contact your local legal beagle for advice on this, or if you’re in the UK contact Finers Stephens Innocent LLP.http://www.fsilaw.com/.

5. If someone takes a disliking to the content on your blog / web 2.0 site, probably the first you will know about it is when you get a letter asking you to take down the content. It might help to have a page on your site with “Notice and Take Down Policies” i.e. telling people how you will deal with any complaint.

6. With copyright, you can get done for linking to a site that infringes someone else’s copyright. Incredible if you ask me, but I don’t set the rules. So be careful what content and blogs you link to as they may be putting you at risk. It’s called ‘making available’.

7. Don’t ever blog about the intellectual property you are generating at work e.g. technology you are developing for your employer, or content you are writing. This will land you in hot water as they will own all this content and you giving it away is not a good thing. Equally, make sure your own employees know your policy here.

8. If you are publishing content written by others, either who you have paid or not, make it clear who owns the content. Get it down on paper with each writer to avoid any problems later on with intellectual property rights.

9. If you write about a company don’t be tempted to include a copy of their logo in your post (I’ve done this a lot). If the company doesn’t like your content you could be done for things like Dilution of the brand, or incorrect usage of a Trade Mark.

10. remember, you are seen by the law as a professional journalist, so you should be prepared to be treated as one. Get some legal advice or do some research so you understand your legal position, before it’s too late.

So there you go. If you haven’t realised why I started on point 2, it’s because point 1. is below. Hope all that was helpful.

** disclaimer. These comments do not constitute legal advice and you should consult a qualified legal practitioner before using any of this advice (point number 1. do not offer advice you are not qualified to give..)

Let me start by wishing you all a very Happy New Year. I hope you have a fantastic, prosperous and enjoyable 2008, I certainly hope to be doing so!! (yep that’s correct, this was first drafted in the first week of January, but I’ve only just found the time to finish it off).

As per usual at this time of the year I’ve been bombarded with adverts for joining my local gym, losing a few pounds of weight, cheap credit cards and all sorts of offers for sorting out the physical, mental and financial hangover from Christmas. This is all well and good as after all, December in London is party season and it’s fair to say my wallet, liver and rapidly growing spare tyre all took an absolute hammering.

However for us small business owners, its also a time to think about your businesses health. So without further ado, here are 5 things you can do to get your work year off to a healthy flyer:

1. Plan some yearly goals

It’s always tempting on that first day back to carry on where you left off on Christmas eve - ploughing through emails, answering customer queries etc etc. However this is probably not the best way to get back into work, after all you now have a unique opportunity to plan ahead, think about what you want to achieve with your business and set up some SMART targets (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and time bound). Build in a marketing plan around your business targets, for example if you want to grow your business, what communications vehicles can you use to support this growth?

2. Reward your team

The first few weeks back after Christmas are notorious sickie hot spots, so do what you can to ease your staff back into the world of work. Last year I wrote about rewarding your employees to stave off the January blues and I stand by my suggestions - it doesn’t have to be an overly costly experience, just a small gesture. Check this out for some ideas. Remember, people are just as important in your marketing as products, or promotions or your place of work.

3. Call you 5 most valuable accounts

Take the time in the new year to catch up with your biggest clients. They may well be knee deep in planning themselves, but a quick call to catch-up and to ask ‘what’s important for you this year?’ will stand you in good stead to ensure you are both on top of their mind and that you understand their needs well. I heard the CEO of Xerox speak last year and her words still echo in my mind:

Success is based on the value you bring to customers - they have to be the centre of your universe

4. Call any problem creditors / debtors

January is often a time of financial difficulty. This can be bad for both debtors and creditors. If you have overdue invoices call those clients and find out what’s going on. It is better to know in advance what the likelihood of you getting paid is and by when - that way you can plan your cash flow more accurately.

If you are in debt and you can see trouble in your cash flow forecast, call your creditors early. They would all prefer to get paid late than not at all and it will do you no harm to foster a good relationship.

5. Try something new

As a small business owner, you probably don’t have huge budgets for marketing communications programmes. But it’s surprising what you can achieve for relatively little. if you haven’t already, consider trying some Payper click advertising, or holding a small sales promotion, or calling your local paper to tell a journalist about some news. The key is to try something you haven’t done before and to take a multilevel approach.

I heard a Dale Carnegie presentation not so long ago and these words still make me think regularly:

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get, what you’ve always got

Well there you go. Long overdue, but some ideas for how to move your small business ahead this year. Remember, even Richard Branson started out selling student magazines from a basement and look where he is know.