With the New Year many companies are trying to enhance their business and create a stronger presence online.  You should too! According to a recent article in Open Forum, there are eight easy steps to boost your website on a budget.

The following are our top 5.

1. Maintaining a blog can do a lot for your business. They bring traffic to your website, stir discussion and keep the public interested.  Blogging is as easy as creating a free account on Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. If you already have a Website, your Webmaster or marketing firm can create a blog as part of your site.  Once the blogging tool is installed, just log in and start writing.

1. Don’t hesitate to register with a business-listing site.  Websites like Bing, Yahoo, Yelp and Google can help your business with website traffic through search engine optimization (SEO), and help increase the amount of times you are seen online.

1. Paying attention to key words helps with SEO.  The more precise your wording, the higher the probability of increasing traffic to your website, and prospectively more clients.  You can also use the Google Keywords Tool which allows you to check for searches that describe your business and will notify you with successful and unsuccessful keywords that resulted from the search.

1. Watching your analytics also helps with your online presence.  You can register with Google Analytics and search your blog posts to see which are faring well on your site and what specific keywords were used to accomplish it. This helps see which keywords work best and what types of information are read frequently on your website.

1. Adding social media tools should be a priority in today’s society.  Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Linked in are just a few of the names we hear on a daily basis in public relations.  These social media sites are very popular and effective tools in creating website presence.

To read more helpful tips, visit Open Forum’s website.

“Micky Arison should take ownership and get in front of the story,” said Boardroom’s president, Julie Talenfeld, in response to how Costa and Carnival should have responded to the Jan. 13th deadly accident. The current PR approach has both Costa and Carnival’s Doral headquarters under fire – especially after reports of the company offering shipwreck survivors a 30% discount on their next cruise. Media around the world has picked up the story – giving Carnival yet another crisis. CBS Morning show expressed amazement at the offer and the New York Post branded it as “tactless.”

The Miami Hearld reached out to our very own, Julie Talenfeld, for her expert advice and was quoted in today’s article, “Carnival Cruise Lines faces a hostile PR tide.” Click here to read full article.

On January 13^th our client, Fitness 54 celebrated their greatly anticipated grand opening at the Weston Town Center. The highly attended party could be seen from miles away as huge rotating spot lights out front shot beams high into the sky. The fun started with a high-energy dance routine to LMFAO’s popular hit “Party Rock Anthem” and then continued inside Fitness 54 throughout the night. Waitresses walked around sampling the new Fit 54 food, while guests took personalized tours with trainers around the cutting edge facility.

For a recap of the night, watch the video here!

Fitness 54 trainers strike a pose outside the party

In the age of the Internet where virtually all previous online contents lives forever, reputation management can pose its challenges.  That’s why it is important to closely monitor the Internet, social media and review sites to listen in to what is being said about you – or someone with the same or a similar name.  “Lawyers Struggling at Managing Reputations” as published in the Daily Business Review shows all of us what can happen to an unsuspecting attorney or businessperson, if they do not have a handle on what is being said online.  Simple tools like Google Alerts work well for some while others choose to subscribe to a reputation management monitoring service.  Boardroom uses MyRepMan for selected clients.  You should consider a monitoring program for yourself.

To read the full DBR article, please click here.

Tomorrow the Legal Marketing Association will kick off its 2012 program with “Connecting Costs to Value: Your Role in Driving Revenue.”  If you are an  attorney, marketing and business development professional, marketing partner, managing partner, practice group leader, or manager from law firms/accounting firms, then you should be there!

Nationally recognized as a leader in law firm business development strategy, special guest presenter Silvia Coulter, will discuss what firms can do to build relationships based on loyalty versus cost of services, client growth cycle and process improvement and its impact on the firm’s revenue.

When: TOMORROW! Tuesday, January 17, 2012 from 5 p.m. -7:30 p.m.

• Registration and networking being at 5 p.m.
• Presentation starts at 5:45 p.m.
• Food, fun and networking at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Berger Singerman; 1450 Brickell Avenue Suite 1900, Miami, FL 33131

Cost: Complimentary for lawyers, legal marketing professionals and LMASE members, $25 for other business professionals or non-members

Please RSVP to Jennifer Clarin, jclarin@boardroompr.com (954) 370-8999 or via SurveyMonkey, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YMJ3ZW7.

Hope you can join us!

Fitness 54 is a revolutionary workout concept that is changing bodies, minds and turning the concept of fitness training on its ear…they are like no fitness club or gym you’ve ever been to. Created in the garage of a passionate fitness fanatic interested in more than what the typical fitness center could offer, Fitness 54 now offers up-tempo workouts in an exciting, energetic and engaging club setting.

Come join us this Friday at the Weston Town Center for food, fun, good friends and giveaways! Click the link below to add yourself to the Facebook invitation.

54 lucky guests will be chosen at random to win ONE WEEK of UNLIMITED Fitness 54 classes!

See you Friday!

While the partnership has invested and managed dozens of hotels for the past 30 years, this is their first project developed from the ground up. Recently, the Miami Herald took notice of the new Comfort Suites and did a story for the Business Section. Click here to read the entire article.

Join MDPrevent, a new health care service, education and primary care practice located in Delray Beach, for its grand opening event. Come out and learn all about the programs and services that MDPrevent has to offer.

MDPrevent is hosting its open house and ribbon cutting ceremony starting at 10 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012. The center is located at 5130 Linton Blvd. Suite H-1, Delray Beach. For more information, please call 561-807-2561.

The holidays created a time for giving. On New Year’s Eve, we reflected on past mistakes and resolved to be better for 2012.

Here at Boardroom, the protocol of the season got us thinking about the protocol of networking. When we network, our objective is simple  — we want something.

But the holidays remind us that relationships, networking ones too, are about a give-and-take exchange. Remembering that spirit of the season, forget about what you can get out of the relationship. Focus on what you have to give.

Here’s a simple tip that can help you revamp your networking strategies, whether on the web or at the next annual New Year’s cocktail party: be interested, not interesting. Yes, keep your business card in tow; but rather than focus on yourself, really listen to the other person.

The best networks are those of mutual benefits where everybody wins. It’s time to tap in! Find out what makes the other person tick. Sincerely inquire on how you can help foster and support their needs.

That’s our New Year’s resolution.

So here’s to making 2012 a time of giving and connecting, whether it be in our networks of co-workers, family or friends.