Smart business owners understand that they need to have a business online presence in order to not just survive, but to grow in this economy. As more and more consumers turn to the internet to search for products and services, the old paper directory books like The Yellow pages are on their way out.

In fact, the younger generation doesn’t use the Yellow Pages at all. And why would they when they have the world literally at their finger tips via computers, lap tops, and now, smart phones.

Many people know it’s important to get have a business online presence and are hiring web designers to build websites for them. And it’s a good start. But not all, in fact hardly any, web designers are SEO savy. In fact, many of them don’t know the first thing about how to optimize a website for the search engines.

And so business people are left with websites that don’t make it to the first page of Google, or even the tenth or the hundredth page. And therefore, they are not getting found and their businesses are not getting new customers.

That’s where SEO consultants come in. SEO experts know how to get websites to rank high in search engines. SEO consultants have spent years learning about search engine optimization (SEO) and all the skills needed (including keywords research, on-site and off-site SEO, and link building) to get high rankings in search engines.

And it’s fairly easy for SEO consultants to get locally focused keyword terms ranked high in search engines. There’s no worry about competing against global or national competitors. Instead, the competition is limited to a local market, which is fairly easy to achieve for anyone with basic skills in search engine optimization.

And now that Google has come out with Google Maps (which attaches a map location to each business) it’s vital that business people claim their own business location on Google maps. It’s also important that they know it’s FREE. There are some very unscrupulous people out there who are calling businesses and “offering” to get them on Google maps for a “mere” $500 or more bucks. Shameful!

SEO consultants with any sense of honor and kindness would use the Google maps as a way to build trust with businesses by offering to set it up free for them. Something as simple as setting up Google maps for businesses can be used to get a foot in the business owner’s door, and help to build a working relationship.

The powerful SEO skills that internet marketers and SEO consultants possess are very important tools that business owners should be utilizing. SEO consultants can help business owners make their way through the confusing maze of online marketing and help create a highly visible business online presence.

Getting high search rankings from Google and other search engines is difficult, and it’s a complicated process that takes expertise in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But with the help of SEO experts businesses can see huge and growing rewards from online exposure.

We have been doing professional SEO and internet marketing for over 4 years and understand what it takes to get pages ranked high in the search engines. We know how to create websites that are keyword-rich and optimized for the search engines. We can help you with your online presence and help you get found by customers wanting and needing your services.

SharePoint solutions are the Microsoft products used by many organizations these days to make their work easier and convenient. With its latest versions, people can ensure customized solutions for their collaborative work requirements. SharePoint consulting is a sophisticated service associated with Microsoft SharePoint software, designed to improve organizational behaviour and business collaboration. It helps a firm to achieve its business goals via collaborative work culture. As a software SharePoint features great flexibility and so, consulting professionals can more customize solutions and provide your business with more productive results. This software comes with user friendly options and customized features and hence, business owners can ensure better work environment.

With the growing demand for SharePoint services, more and more companies have entered into this field. This has increased competition in the field and people became confused on how to find the best SharePoint maintenance service provider in the market. Business owners seek SharePoint development services because of its sophisticated advantages. Looking for the service providers who offer those advantages is the best way to find out the most dependable consulting firm. Ensure your service provider offers the following;

Pertinent application of the technology at the required areas, and offer its customized interface to the entire organization’s work environment.
Make use of SharePoint interface for productive purposes within the organization.
Ability to sort out any complex issues using SharePoint 2010 in-built solutions.
Take the advantage of security options provided by the SharePoint software for the sake of organizational security.
Provide the business with comprehensive solution system.

A SharePoint maintenance services should also incorporate content management system, and make dashboard implementation and menu based application to bring forth a dynamic website. Business owners who spend much of their time behind coordinating employees and business information can find SharePoint development services a time saver and so, they can more concentrate on other productive means. With many automated solutions, these services eliminate a hefty of expenses for the organization. Using these services, business people can store information at one central location and can provide access to authorized workers of the project.

SharePoint development services help business owners improve the customized solutions they are searching for. With extensive knowledge in the field, these professionals can work in accordance with client’s specifications. Clients will be provided with result oriented work flow, and the SharePoint server will enable business owners to work better on this platform. Work will go easy and a huge growth in the work will be facilitating with the help of an experienced and expertise SharePoint consulting service provider.

There are many services that internet marketing agencies can provide to their clients. From website development to design, search engine optimisation to email and social media marketing. A good internet marketing agency will do more than just provide these services, they will consult their clients every step of the way. They will go through the clients offering, products and existing marketing work and determine what their needs are and how they can execute them.

Consulting though, can also be a paid service in itself and is also a great way to retain customers and followers and spread brand awareness. How can this be achieved you ask? Here are a few ways:

1. Providing useful and free content:

In our current time of blogs, micro blogs and social sharing sites there are a multitude of ways for companies to share their knowledge and expertise with a wide audience. This might include tips on products, technology and/or digital tools. It might include ‘how-to’ guides, or even suggested reading. Content aggregation has become almost as important as content creation. By providing useful content to readers companies are adding value. They are making themselves a trusted information source, so when it comes time for consumers or other business to choose a service provider and/or product they will be much more likely to choose you.

2. Selling well researched training materials:

If you’re an expert in your field there is no reason why people shouldn’t pay for your knowledge. Some experts choose to publish books or manuals, while others create training materials and physically go to companies to educate their staff. When building out a service keep track of your process. Make sense of your research and create easy-to-follow steps on best practice. With the right information and knowledge there’s no reason why you can’t build a training deck and offer it as a service.

3. Offer free workshops:

A great way to get to know your local community is by offering them something for free. The long-term benefits of offering a free weekly workshop in an area you specialise in can be well worth your time and effort. This strategy combines the first and second I mentioned. Here you are taking the second strategy based on training and education and giving it away for free as a way to give back to your community, generate trust, spread brand awareness and possibly retain new customers.

So you see, consulting can be a service in itself and an important one for experts in any field. The best part is that you already have the knowledge and processes, now all you have to do is convert it into digestible content and/or engaging presentations.

Many people starting out, or considering starting out, as a consultant worry about their ability to establish credibility. Factors such as not having a national reputation or not having a proven track record as a consultant are often seen as major obstacles. Here are 4 tips to start establishing credibility as a consultant.

First the major concerns that many consultants seem to have:

Not having a proven track record as a consultant
Not having a lot of qualifications, degrees or letters after their names
Not having ‘flashy’ marketing materials
Not having a national (or international) reputation
So what can you do?

1 Send out a formal announcement

Start with your existing network of business contacts, friends and family, you may be surprised at just who can help you. You could also consider a press release in a local or industry related publication.

2 Collect testimonials

These are an excellent way to establish your credibility. Ask clients, business contacts colleagues, etc. to provide you with some positive words. The testimonial should be short and to the point. Ask people who know your work to write a few words for you that you can include in your marketing materials.

3 Get Referrals

A referral to a qualified prospect from a satisfied client is probably the most effective method of establishing credibility. The key here is to take the lead. Don’t just wait for people to give you referrals, ask for them. The best type of referral to get is when a satisfied client contacts a prospect on your behalf, tells them about the quality of your work and then either gets them to contact you or tells you that the prospect is interested in receiving your call.

4 Get An Endorsement

The key to this one is getting someone that will be known by, or at least recognised as an authority figure by, your target market to endorse your services. Once you have the cooperation of your endorser you should get them to write a letter (on their headed paper, using their business name) about you and the quality of your work. You can also offer to write the letter on their behalf and have them put it on their stationary and sign it. You can then send this letter to your prospects. This is particularly powerful if your prospects already know the endorser but is also very effective if they just know their reputation and consider them an authority in their field. Then follow up with your own letters and / or phone calls, being sure to mention the endorsement letter in these later communications.