LotusJump Blog

We’d like to thank ShopKirDeVries.com for taking the time to answer a few questions for this week’s Friday Spotlight. Kir DeVries is a unique gift store that specializes in selling products such as kitchenware, serveware,  lunch supplies, and wine totes. This online store has been around for a little over 3 years now and is excited to be featured in this week’s Spotlight.

1. What was the inspiration behind your company?

As a former niche brick and mortar store owner (and current foodie and wine aficionado) I was inspired to combine my skills and interests in the more flexible online e-commerce format. I believe very strongly in the homespun traditions of gatherings, dining and entertaining and wanted to provide a unique collection of goods to inspire people to enjoy entertaining at home.

2. What company achievement are you most proud of?

Kir DeVries has has evolved beautifully in our first three years of operation. As a bootstrapped company with a very limited marketing budget I am most proud of our exponential revenue growth year after year. It shows that we are really connecting with and serving our customers in a fun way that not only keeps them coming back but inspires them to spread the word about Kir.

3. Why do you think internet marketing for your business is so important?

Being an online retail site, we must constantly stay in our customers line of sight. So whether that is through SEO, banner adds or social media, it’s important to constantly remind shoppers of who we are and what we are doing in the medium in which they are spending most of their time.

4. Would you like to share a creative marketing tip for other small business owners?

One marketing strategy that has been working out surprisingly well for me is simply to ask my customers for help in spreading the word. With every customer service or follow up email I ask the customer to spread the word in a way that is unique to him or her. For example if someone bought a certain brand of product I’ll put a PS on the email that says “oh also remind your friends to like our facebook page so they can help pick our next round of Shinzi Katoh products”.  They are excited to be engaged and more than happy to help!

Thanks Shop Kir DeVries for letting us spotlight you this week! Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!

We’d like to thank Policehow.com for taking the time to answer a few questions for this week’s Friday Spotlight. Policehow is a career-helper website that teaches people interested in law enforcement jobs the types of things (such as education, experience, useful skills, etc.) they should be working towards in order to successfully land that type of job. Policehow has been around for almost 2 years now and is excited to be featured in this week’s Spotlight.

1. What was the inspiration behind your company?

Ever since I was little I have always wanted to become either an FBI agent or a policeman. Just the thought of being able to run around chasing  bad guys and help make the community a safer place sounded like a dream come true. So I told myself that if I was serious about landing a job in law enforcement, I had better find out everything there was to know about getting hired. I figured since there was going to be a lot of research involved on this topic, why not record this helpful information and share it with others on the web.

2. What company achievement are you most proud of?

I think it’s always nice getting emails from people interested in a law enforcement career expressing thanks towards my site for guiding them in the right direction. As far as a marketing achievement I am most proud of… ranking on my primary targeted search term “how to become a police officer”, which is currently in the 5th position of Google (thanks to LotusJump and it’s endless list of SEO tasks). Ranking this well for any keyword is awesome and drives a significant amount of traffic to my site. I am excited to start using LotusJump for my newly launched sites, FirefighterHow & FBIhow.com, in hopes of achieving the same kind of results.

3. Why do you think internet marketing for your business is so important?

Internet marketing is the key to success for any website; without SEO or other marketing efforts, no one will be visiting your site, and that tends to make it irrelevant. The way to move up on the search engine rankings and get more people visiting your website is to continually build high quality links, and fortunately for me, LotusJump makes that part easy.

4. Would you like to share a creative marketing tip for other small business owners?

I think one great way to gain more valuable links from related industries is to simply ask other website moderators if they would be willing to link to your site. When you send them an email, be sure to thank them for their site or a post you enjoyed, point out something you liked or learned by visiting their site, and then ask if they wouldn’t mind linking to your site. Be willing to link back to their site as well so they don’t think you are trying to get something for nothing. This link building technique has helped me to acquire tons of valuable links which have helped pushed my rankings to the top.

Thanks PoliceHow.com for letting us spotlight you this week! Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!