Practice makes perfect!

My brother has been talking about starting his own painting business for the last six months and up until recently I haven't asked him about the details. He is a huge MN T-Wolves fan and with his die-hard basketball loving heart, did not missed a game all season (season ticket holder). I can guess what some of you are thinking....who would want season tickets to the T-Wolves! My brother loves b-ball and because of his love for them, has formed friendships with the players and just about everyone at the Target Center. Fellow season ticket holders, bodyguards, sales people, and concession workers are a few of the people that know him by name. My brother has been in the painting business for 6 years and has is continually laid him off. He is a hard and honest worker who is ready to start working for himself!

Here is where I come in! I asked my brother, "how do you plan on marketing yourself?" He didn't really have an answer. So I then ask, "do you plan on having a website?" He said, "I'm not sure." I couldn't hold my excitement and I start explaining how amazing Google is and SEO techniques and told him we need to develope a website and use Michael H. Fleischner's techniques.

I briefly told him about the importance of keywords and page ranking but since our last assignment was to read off page Optimization; I spoke more to that. The importance of link requests, article marketing and blogging ideas came flying out of my mouth. According to Fleischner (2008), "Off-page optimization is the most important SEO strategy for those seeking #1 placement on Google" (pg.52). My brother of course was overwhelmed but very excited and we decided to get together to talk more about the website next week. He did mention a company called servicemagic, which is a online service that contractors can pay to be a part of and helps connect clients with pre-screened contractors. I believe this is an expensive company to belong to and I will need to do more research to determine how competitive they will be with my brothers company. Fleischner did mention that Google has begun to penalize "paid Link".

So you may be asking,"How does my brother's love of basketball play into starting his new business". By golly, he already has some interested "wealthy" clients he knows from the Target Center! If I help him establish a professional well managed website combined with my SEO knowledge and his contacts, hopefully I can assist him be a successful business owner. Wish me luck!!