Success

There are so many details to managing a good Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign that many people outsource the task to those who know the systems very well. Others try to manage their website’s keyword lists, advertising copy and landing page on their own – Some do it well, others do not.

It’s important to go back to the basics of a PPC campaign (keywords, advertising text and landing pages). Google is constantly changing the aspects of how advertisements are ranked for certain keywords (it’s not just about the bid), that having the core fundamentals in place is important and needs constant review.

I’m going to be presenting this subject in three parts, starting with keywords:

Your keywords are how people find your website, your products and your services. The terms that potential customers type in when searching can be everything from your website name to a very obscure misspelling of your top product.

Doing research on which terms people are using to find you is critical. You want to be in front of those potential customers. Google AdWords has a good keyword tool that lets you enter a term, such as one of your product names, and it will give you the average search volume for the past month as well as other related search terms. This tool is one of many that give you the power to find out what your potential customers are typing into the search engines to find your business.

For those who already have a keyword list, it is still beneficial to get back to the basics and see what others are searching for. Trends change, language changes and seasons change. Many different external factors could have an impact on user behavior.

Once you have finished researching your terms or refining your keyword list, review your list of terms. Ensure that these are the terms you still want to bid on. Perhaps your business goals have changed and you no longer want to promote Red Widgets because you have found that Blue and Green Widgets are what potential customers really want.

Change is good – as long as it follows a plan.

Bonus Tip: Use the Search Query Report. Among the reports in Google AdWords is a search query report that aggregates the actual searches that people used to find your ad and site. This is a great place to get additional keywords (straight from the user!) and also to find negative keywords. Negative keywords are important to help qualify your customer before they see your ad (and before you get the impressions and clicks that you know will not convert).

Nicole Poole
Online Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Tags: , fundamentals, ppc
Posted on November 19th, 2008 | No Comments »

For those of you who attended Monday’s Back to the Fundamentals webinar, you heard a lot of references to some websites, books and blogs.

For the reference of those people looking for more information and for those of you who weren’t able to make it to the webinar, I’m going to put a reference list here.

If there are any that I fail to include here, please leave a comment and I’ll track it down and get it for you.

Tim Berry

Blogs : Planning, Startups, Stories, Up and Running,  Tim’s posts at HuffingtonPost, Tim at Anita Campbell’s Small Business Trends, Planning Demystified at AllBusiness.com

Books:  The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan book and website, Three Weeks to Start-up

Slides: Download the slides from Monday’s webinar as well as other presentations Tim has given over the years.

The webinar itself will be available for download starting today at our video site   eta: This link is fixed now, sorry about that!

Resources: Palo Alto Software products,  Business and Marketing calculators, more planning video’s.

I hope that was helpful, again, if I’ve missed anything or you’re wondering about a particular resource or website, just comment!

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Tags: backtofundamentals, business planning, global entrepreneurship week, resources, smart planning, Tim Berry, webinar
Posted on November 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

Palo Alto Software is pleased to be a small part of this amazing global effort to help young entrepreneurs, small business and growing businesses succeed with their business dreams.

This week, all over the world, businesses, universities and thought leaders in the business community are celebrating the power of the entrepreneur. As Tim Berry, the president of Palo Alto Software will tell you, in this time of economic difficulties it’s important to get back to the things that are important. Back to the things that work. The basics. The ABC’s of business.

The Business in General blog and Bplans.com will be bringing you video’s, articles, tips, special offers and a webinar on how to take your business back to the fundamentals.

If you’re starting a business or growing your business, we’re going to hopefully touch on a topic you are interested in.

We’re kicking off the week with Tim Berry hosting a webinar. Registration is closed for “Business Planning: Back to the Fundamentals” webinar at this point, but we will be posting portions of it all week long. Look for more information on that later today.

Thanks for stopping by, and if you have any suggestions or comments, I want to hear them. Please get in touch with me at hello (at) paloalto.com

Have a great week everyone!

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Tags: backtofundamentals, basics of business, business planning, entrepreneurship
Posted on November 17th, 2008 | No Comments »

This latest round of government bailout of big industry reminds me how history seems to repeat itself.

Tom Paxton wrote the song, I’m Changing My Name to Chrysler in 1980, after the U.S. government bailed out auto maker Chrysler Corporation, some 18 years before it was merged with Daimler-Benz. Here’s a short excerpt from the lyrics.

I am changing my name to Chrysler
I am going down to Washington D.C. …

…If you’re a corporate titanic and your failure is gigantic
Down to congress there’s a safety net for you…

… So when they hand a million grand out
I’ll be standing with my hand out
Yes sir I’ll get mine

Click here to listen to a performace of the song by Arlo Guthrie.

Other bailouts have helped Lockheed, Penn Central Railroad, New York City, and Continental Illinois National Bank. And so it continues with the current AIG rescue and $700 billion bank bailout attempt.

After the current bailout bill failed to pass the House of Representatives, Indiana congressman Mike Pence warned that the bailout ran counter to the principles of American government, (recent history notwithstanding).

“Economic freedom means the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail,” Pence said.

Now, that’s not news to some businesses in the United States. The potential and “freedom to fail” is a reality, a constant care for the millions of small- and medium-sized businesses that form the basis and lifeblood of our daily lives, in every town across the country.

You won’t see national rescue bills being put forward for local restaurants, muffler repair shops, shoe stores, or book shops. Nope. Sorry. We are on our own. And short of all of us changing our names to Banks and heading off to D.C. to lobby for hand-outs, our recourse is to plan for our future, including how to weather our financial storms.

And I mean serious, concerted planning, on a frequent and ongoing basis. Planning cannot be a simple once-a-year budget exercise any longer. If you haven’t looked at your business plan, your marketing plan, and your cash flow in the last month, you are way behind the curve. The economic environment is changing daily and you are out of date. By neglecting to plan you are exercising your freedom to fail.

You have the freedom to succeed! Plan on it!

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software

Tags: bailouts, business planning, economy, fail, financial collapse, freedom, succeed
Posted on October 1st, 2008 | No Comments »

Yesterday Cale Bruckner had his 13th anniversary with Palo Alto Software. Vie Radek had hers on April 15, Connie Muller this Thursday, and Jake Weatherly and Teri Epperly next year.

So I know that 13 years is nothing compared to Microsoft or IBM or General Motors, but what’s cool about these anniversaries is that there were only 10 or so employees back in 1995, and most of them are still with us.

That, in small business, is an achievement. Their achievement, putting up with the ups and downs of a small software company; and ours, in keeping the good people.

There are 45 of us now. When Vie and Cale and Connie started, Business Plan Pro was in its first version, and was just barely making it in retail. Today it’s in its eleventh version.

The picture here was taken just two months shy of 12 years ago, in November of 1996, at a roller skating rink. The people shown here were more than half of Palo Alto Software’s employees at that time. The key people missing who are still with us are my wife Vange, who (I think) took the picture; and Jake Weatherly, who had just joined.

From the left, you have me, Luke Walsh (now with Right Media, a Yahoo subsidiary), Cale Bruckner, Connie Muller, Cristin Berry, Vie Radek, and Teri Epperly.

If you add Vange and Jake back into the picture, who were very much a part of it but not pictured, then the only people from back then that we’ve lost were Luke, now at Right Media; and three others, also not pictured, one who retired in his late 50s, one who moved to the East Coast when she married, and one who, well, didn’t fit. And he’s doing well on his own, in sales. Cristin, also pictured, was 13 when that picture was taken, but she’s also been a full-time employee since she graduated from Whitman College four years ago.

And I might add that it’s been more than 18 months now since the new management team took over, and Vie, Cale, Connie, Teri, and Jake are still with us. That speaks a lot for continuity, and what’s good about them, and us. That makes me proud.

Tim Berry
Founder and President
Palo Alto Software

Tags: employees, family business, longevity, Small Business, startup, Success
Posted on September 25th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

If you’re looking for a little Friday distraction or are curious what it looks like inside a venture-funded startup, set aside a few hours and catch some episodes of Start-Up Junkies on Hulu.com.

Start-Up Junkies is very reminiscent of the 2001 movie Startup.com, also a fun technology start-up documentary about the first Internet boom of the late 90s.

Both Start-Up Junkies and Startup.com  are interesting to watch, especially if you are a budding entrepreneur looking to raise a bunch of money and enter the sleep-deprived, fast-paced world of getting a technology company up and running quickly. They give you a good view into the stress involved, the personalties you will come across, and what it is like to be responsible for starting a company with someone else’s money. There are good lessons to be learned and plenty of “what not to do” moments.

Enjoy!

–Noah Parsons
COO
Palo Alto Software

Posted on August 22nd, 2008 | No Comments »

Every year Palo Alto Software contributes to and participates in business plan competitions. We receive business plans from several different competitions around the country and key members of our staff read the plans then meet to determine best written plan, or best executive summary, what ever it is we’re set to award for that particular event.

I’ll never forget this particular plan for a resturant that was submitted.

Business plans for resturants seem fairly easy to write, I say this because we seem to get a lot of them during college business plan competitions, but harder to implement in the real world.

The plan started out well, they had a good management team, a good location and their “secret sauce” was pretty effective I thought. But then I got to the end of the document where they finished the plan with this summarizing comment:

While we believe the restaurant is a good idea, we’ve realized through the writing of this plan that there’s no way we could make a living running this restaurant. It’s just not going to work.

Well, I guess it’s good to know before you go too far that it’s not going to work, but here’s my question. Did they give up too soon? Was it a good assessment of the feasibility of the plan and the business? Or of their passion and willingness to build the business? I guess we’ll never know.

Sometimes the difference between success and failure is all in the way you look at it.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Tags: business planning, success vs failure
Posted on July 23rd, 2008 | 3 Comments »

I just returned to my office after visiting the local FedEx Kinko’s for assistance with a couple marketing projects. As I walked out of the store, I thought about how pleasant my experience was and how receiving good vs. bad customer service can really affect you as a consumer. The sales associate I worked with was extremely helpful, had a smile on her face, and even tried to sell me a much larger version of a banner we were working on. I didn’t bite (yet), and although up-selling can sometimes be a bit off-putting, I was appreciative of her efforts, assistance and positive demeanor.

It still continues to amaze me how many organizations do not provide good, or even mediocre, customer service and stay in business. It also amazes me when I receive compliments for doing what I think is natural: returning phone calls and emails in a timely manner and having a positive and helpful attitude when assisting customers and clients. We receive positive feedback at Palo Alto Software on a regular basis, and we truly pride ourselves on the exceptional customer service we provide.

As a small business, I don’t think you can afford to not provide outstanding customer service. A smile and a positive attitude takes no more (and likely less) effort than a flat face and a sour attitude, and I would venture a guess that you will be more successful in the long run. So take your customer service to the next level and get people talking about you and coming back for more.

Kristen Langham
Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Posted on July 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

If you struggle with picking yourself up and moving forward after a bad event, the book Bounce by Barry Moltz might be just the book for you. Moltz states:

…this is a book about developing bounce, a kind of true business confidence that brings its own special brand of resiliency…a book about accepting failure as a normal part of the process…when we possess bounce, we are able to move forward from any event - good or bad - to the next place where a decision can be made…above all bounce gets us ready for adventure.

I was expecting a book focused primarily on how to bounce back when you have a business failure, but instead it offered a much more global view. I especially liked that I was able to relate not only on a business level but also on a personal level. Filled with mini stories and examples of how different people have handled adversity and come out stronger, Bounce is a great combination of a business book and a motivational book, but it isn’t traditionally dry or sappy. Moltz has a very relaxed writing style, and one that I think many people can relate to and enjoy while reading this book.

Kristen Langham
Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Posted on June 12th, 2008 | No Comments »

I met Tricia Kandik at the very first SmartUps Pubtalk in Eugene, Oregon a few months ago. From the very start of our conversation I was struck by her enthusiasm and passion concerning her business and entrepreneurship in general. Her business was so new, she’d just picked up her first batch of business cards. 

I’m excited to share Tricia’s story about her business with the BIG blog readers. 

Chelle: So, set-up what it is you do. Is this your first business?

Tricia: I had a dogwalking/petsitting business for five years in Washington D.C. before moving out to Eugene.  So I knew I enjoyed having my own business, and could handle the various ups and downs of self-employment.

Friends had been telling me for years that I should consider cleaning and organizing as a paid endeavor, joking that it was my “hobby”.  It’s true: I spend a lot of my spare time cleaning and organizing my own home, and I truly enjoy it.  Finally, one friend “dared” me to do it, saying she would use my eco-friendly housecleaning services, and had several other friends who would also become clients. 

(more…)

Posted on June 12th, 2008 | 2 Comments »