Your website’s homepage is like the exterior of a house. The appearance of a house from the outside is typically an accurate indicator of what lies inside. If the bricks are sturdy and the side paneling intact; if the bushes are trimmed and the lawn is mowed, you’d assume that the carpet in the living room is without specks of dirt and the dining table is shiny and smooth.

When visitors first land on your homepage, you want to give them both the manicured exterior and the well-kept interior. For today’s Wednesday Drive, however, we are going to pay close attention to that exterior because oftentimes, this is as far as many of your visitors may get in your website.

When deciding what type of information you should include on your website’s homepage, the secret is to balance your business objectives with your buyer personas’ objectives. Sometimes, the goals of all parties will be the same. For example, you would want to book more rides and your potential...

Social media is a keystone asset to any marketing plan in the modern age. An ever-growing channel of shared content-- be it links, .gifs, pictures --the white noise of any outlet you choose is a daunting measure for every business. The challenge of cutting through leaves most feeling like it’s an impossible task and therefore it gets dramatically under utilized.

We’re here to help you change that.

Good social content starts with three items:

Relevancy: the content has to make sense to the audience. How does it pertain to them?
Timeliness: the content has to be posted at a time when the audience is engaged with the platform.
Agency: perhaps the most important, the content being posted must be shared for a reason and not just to become “part of the noise.”

So how do you determine these items? Take a bird’s eye view of your social media audience and ascertain who your personas are. Consult back to your buyer personas and use them to define your strategies.

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Whether you are creating a video for your website to show off a new addition to your fleet or you are putting together a motion piece for a Facebook ad describing a client experience, the visuals won't engage your audience without high-quality audio. 

"Little things can make such a big difference during recording." - Matt Cameron

You may believe that high-quality audio only comes with equipment you would find in the recording studio of Guns n' Roses. In reality, you don't need a bunch of fancy gear to produce crisp, clear audio.

Jesse True, our videographer at Limo University, covers some quick tips and techniques in the video above that you can easily implement when you start planning your next video project. 

1. Invest in a microphone.

A $10 investment will get you this lavalier lapel mic for your phone.

2. Avoid big spaces. 

The larger the space where you are recording your audio, the more room sound has to occupy. A lack of directional focus will result...

We all want to build an effective campaign but we need a roadmap to know where to begin! THIS is that roadmap.

This week, we were inspired by an article Ryan Deiss, wrote describing the thoughts of a typical customer. You see, your customers and clients don't carry an iota of concern about your new service or the size and quality of your fleet. 

They care about themselves. They care about how they can maximize their time and their money. If your content isn't addressing these simple facts, you could be disappearing into the sea of words and imagery that your audiences encounter on a daily basis.

Not convinced? Listen as Limo University Founder Bill Faeth narrates "An Open Letter from an Apathetic Customer" by clicking on the video above.

"I didn’t wake up and start looking for you.

You’re an interruption. A distraction, at best, from my momentary boredom.

In fact, at this point the only reason we’re still having this conversation is because I shifted it from you back to me.

I do that a lot.

I like me." 

View the entire article by Ryan Deiss...

With over 2 billion users engaging with Facebook, the chances for you to communicate with your target audiences on the social platform are varied. From regularly posting to your Facebook page to boosting your posts for greater reach, the opportunities are nearly endless. 

One of the most effective ways to speak directly with prospects and leads is through Facebook ads. While 93% of marketers use Facebook advertising, only 42% believe they are receiving adequate returns on their investments.

For this week's Wednesday Drive, Bill Faeth sits down with Daniel Daher - the newest member of the Limo U team - to discuss specific actions you can take to improve the performance of your Facebook ads. 

Q: Tell me the number 1 mistake you say people make when running Facebook ads.

A: I would say it starts with the most powerful aspect of Facebook advertising which is in the ability to target who sees your ads. If you aren't spending the majority of your time in that audience...

3 free tools for determining your ideal prospects

From your Facebook ads and landing pages to your emails and sales pitches, the words you combine to communicate with target audiences matters more than you may realize. Oftentimes, small business owners revert to what they know best - their services and products. Unfortunately, features aren’t as attractive to cold - or even warm leads - as stories that relate to your potential customers.
Researchers have proven that text demonstrating knowledge of unique struggles is more engaging than feature-driven information. In fact, Copywriter Today found that traffic to your website automatically increases by 7.8X when you use compelling copy.

Let’s say you want to start a marketing campaign with the objective of selling a package for group travel to travel managers in your area. Before you open up a Microsoft Word or Google document, define the exact person you need to target. Buyer personas exist to keep all of your data on a...

Abiding by SEO best practices is an important part of any small business's marketing strategy. Limo U team member, Reese, took some time to review the tactics he believes are absolutely necessary for limousine and ground transportation companies to implement right now. 

Watch the video above or read the transcript below for more information.

SEO TIPS VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Good morning everyone. I just want to start off by saying thank you for being members of Limo U. This is my first Wednesday Drive so if I seem a little nervous or maybe a little scatterbrained here today I hope that’s alright. What I am going to do here today is basically go over some basic SEO tips that you can implement today if you need for your website. We had Boot Camp about a week and a half ago and I ran into a couple of business owners who didn’t really have any idea of how to execute any actionable SEO items. So in my brief time I tried to go over a few things that you could kind of do on the...