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Local Internet Marketing – 3 Tips You Can Use in Your Small Business

When it comes to Local Internet marketing is your business running on all eight cylinders or does it seem like you’re fighting an uphill battle with webmasters and specialists who promise the moon?

Whether you have a stand alone physical business that needs foot traffic, a remote office that requires in bound calls or a virtual office that handles emails, texts, calls and social interaction – Local Internet Marketing may be just what you need to increase sales and profits.

Notice in that last paragraph that I said May. Because in certain cases Local Internet Marketing may not be what your business needs. Like the one I was running out of a home office many years ago in the Wenatchee Valley (in Central Washington), where it’s a smaller community with a population hovering around 40,000 people.

When I lived there the local paper was just starting to market online but it was all so new and 56K dialup was very frustrating. Working out of this satellite office we helped run our Seattle based operations for The Tiny Store, plus I communicated, serviced and sold products to people all over the planet. This was in the late 1990’s before cable or DSL. A matter of fact, we had the first residential 115K ISDN line installed and it took three GTE techs to get it all working and operational.

What’s my point here?

It’s this – Local Internet Marketing would not have had the ROI for us had I implemented what I’m going to share below. Why you ask? Because this particular market was really small and our niche was too narrow.  Note: remember, it’s always about results and ROI.

Even though Local Internet Marketing is much easier today than it was 10 and 15 years ago, you still need to understand and be able to navigate through the landscape or hardscape. If you do, you can really help your business and maybe even your wallet.

With all the advancements in technology in the last 10 years, one can pinpoint and target market like never before. Let’s say you own a local service business in the Spokane area, Spokane Valley or Post Falls/ Coeur d’Alene and desire to connect with local and maybe even regional prospects. Marketing via the web using localized methods can make all the difference.

So let’s dig in and go over Three Local Internet Marketing Tips that you can use in your business right now to attract more prospects:

  1. The first tip is to Setup a Separate Mobile Website. This is different than just enabling your site to be visible on mobile devices like the iphone, Blackberry or Android. In most cases this mobile website will make it easier for searchers to view your business and connect immediately. This mobile website helps to eliminate long load times and having to scroll or crawl through menus and content to find the information he or she is seeking.
  2. The second tip is to Become Visible and Register your business with all the local online directories. This tactic can give you a broader reach than just your existing website and can create visibility through credible online sources.
  3. The third tip of the day is to Develop and Cultivate testimonials and positive reviews that you can use in all of your marketing. These testimonials can make the difference, so work to collect and gather as many as you can, making sure to abide by an laws and regulations.

No matter where your small business is located – Spokane, Wenatchee, Richland, or a big metropolitan area like Seattle, if you desire to reach the local community, then no better  time to do it than the present.

Get started now and do the work unless you need someone like The SmallBiz Mechanic to help along the way.

To your local internet marketing success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Increase Sales to Your Website

When I hear the term increase sales to my website this always brings to mind the response  if we can help you increase sales to your website, can you really handle the sales and back end service?

Increasing sales to your website really means that you have to increase the targeted traffic to your site or social media sites, and then convert that traffic through a sales funnel or sales page, if you only have one product. 

In my previous post, Increase Sales the Soft Sell Way, I mentioned the methods that we have used for many, many years. This is the method we used at The Tiny Store and I still use to this day.

Here are three ways that you can soft sell your way to success and increase sales to your website using web-based tools:

1. Create & Place Lead Generating Magnets and bring new leads and prospects your way. These magnets are designed to attract people who have a real interest in what you have to offer. A magnet can be a dedicated web page, an article, a pay per click ad, a classified ad or even a video. The idea is to create powerful, focused, lead generating magnets and then place them in areas where your target market hangs out. This is a great way to increase qualified traffic which in turn should bring you more leads and sales, if you have a product funnel in place.

2. Use Capture Mechanisms – which could be an email auto-responder, standard email, the phone or combination of the above. If you are socially savvy then utilize social media sites to connect, captivate and capture leads. The key here is to be available and willing to communicate when the prospect raises his or her hand and says I’m ready! The more leads you capture – the higher chances you have for converting them into new customers which = sales and $$$ in your bank account.

3. Study Direct Response Strategies & Tactics – If you are going to increase sales to your website you need to know the basics about direct response marketing. So read, learn, study and then apply the basics to your small business. If applied properly these strategies and tactics can help you increase sales to your website and whatever business you are in. Note: always use best practices when it comes to sales and marketing. Leave the short cuts and phony baloney to the amateurs and those that don’t want a long-term business.

Increasing sales is one thing, but taking care of customers is altogether a whole other story. When it comes down to it, you need to be able to handle the sales, service the customers and grow the relationships so you can continue to increase sales with what’s called the backend.

As I have stated in so many different articles, posts, tele-calls and products; increasing sales comes from bringing in new customers, taking care of them and also marketing to existing customers. 

How to increase sales in small business is not difficult. Online or offline all you need to do is find the need, fill it and then continue to build on the relationships that you create. 

Now go increase the sales in your small business and if the times comes that you need a little assistance, contact The SmallBiz Mechanic and maybe he can help you work out the kinks.

Local Internet Marketing – Connecting the Dots

When it comes to local Internet marketing you really need to connect the dots if you are going to be visible and gain exposure in your local community.

Over the years I’ve seen so many businesses guess with their marketing like they are throwing darts at a dart board. I don’t want to seem like I’m beating a dead horse but guessing with your marketing in this day and age of the Internet is like traveling across a country without a map.

Local Internet Marketing for a small business has expanded and grown so much in the last  five years that the possibilities for visibility and connection are extremely high, if you take the time to do the work and put the puzzle together.

When it comes to local Internet marketing you as a small business owner have more online tools available to you today than ever before. Tools like local directories, maps, links to phone numbers, google places, email marketing, social media and the good ole’ search engine organic listings.

If you happen to live close or in my neck of the woods, Eastern Washington or Northern Idaho, then you already know that small business is a big part of the many local communities that comprise this region. But one thing to consider is that local web-based marketing in a town like Spokane, Washington might be a bit different than say Sandpoint, Idaho.

This leads me to how you can connect the dots and develop a local Internet marketing strategy for your small business.

Basically what you need to do is come up with a plan that works specifically for your small business, not some cookie cutter formula that is mass produced like fast food.

Your strategy for local Internet marketing should be designed and customized to fit your business needs. Why – because all that matters is your business and ROI.

Remember, it’s all about keeping it simple, clear and concise, not complicated and confusing.

The Three Main Components (or pillars if you prefer) to local Internet marketing include local search optimization, email marketing and social media, but not all three are a fit for every small business. So what you need to carefully consider is which one of the three will be the most important and bring you the most ROI as soon as possible.

Then once you have determined this you can move onto the next most important component and then finally tackle the third one. This way you don’t get overwhelmed and  inundated with too much information and not enough results.

With certain strategies all three work well together. In other cases you might only use one or two.

Let’s look at the options you have available to you and your business:

1. Local Search Marketing includes organic and pay per click, directories, maps, places, phone links, videos and anything to do with the search engine. Remember visibility is key, so make sure to cover all the bases.

2. Email Marketing includes capturing leads and cultivating relationships with subscribers and existing clients. This is done through links and forms on your website pages, on your blog, in advertisements, articles and social media sites.

3. Social Media Marketing is currently one of the easiest and best ways to become visible to your local market but you’ll need to research and determine which channel is best for your business. Because not all social media sites are the same, you might find some that can help you achieve better rankings and faster ROI than others.

Ok – so that ends today’s commentary on local internet marketing. Stay tuned for part two in this series where I’ll dig further into email and combo marketing and how you can take advantage of the two together.

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Secrets of the Tiny Store