How God Moments Can Change Your Life & Your Business

Today I’m going to take a different path in the land of Click and Mortar Blog. That path is one where I’m going to share about a spiritual topic called God Moments.

Maybe you believe in God and maybe you don’t. Either way, he is working all around us. And yes that includes your life, small business and all of the people you interact with each and every day.

I once heard a speaker call these ‘God Moments,’ so I figured I would share some from my life and lead off with a brief comment about a movie that we had experienced.

In this movie, God’s Not Dead, actor Kevin Sorbo portrays an atheist professor; whose past has led him to require all of his college students to literally disown whatever religion they believe in on their first day of attending his class.

This leads to many students following his instructions, but one student refuses to go this route and sets out to prove that God is not dead. And when I look at the last four words of this last sentence, they lead me to the moments that God has literally reached out and put someone in my path.

Some of the God Moments of my recent past look like this:

The connection with one of my mentors, Sean Mize, which eventually lead to Lester Wehyee.

The connection with business associate Chip Heady eventually lead to Bob Bowen, who as of this writing is currently with Holt International in Eugene, Oregon.

The connection with non-profit ministry evangelist Bob Bowen which has lead to so many different people including Melissa Williams and Tom Mehrer of Clean Compassion.

God Moments and CleanCompassion.org
God moments lead me to Bob and then to Tom at Clean Compassion, who is now connected to Lester in Liberia.

The connection with networking professional Barbara Olson at BNI, which eventually lead to other Godly people like Claudia Rumwell, The Senior Care Organizer.

The connection with pastor Randy Simon. More to come on this connection.

The message our pastor, Joe Wittwer, shares on Sunday’s at Lifecenter hits home in one way or another. And there is always a verse, a phrase or something said that communicates – “God’s Not Dead.”

And the list goes on and on.

Maybe you believe in God and maybe you don’t. Either way, he is working all around us. And yes that includes your small business or enterprise. Whether you want to acknowledge this or look the other way.

So I ask you my friend…

What kind of God moments are you in for? What kind of God moments have you had but you never really acknowledged them as such?

Will you be ready for your next God moment or will you let it pass you by?

Only time will tell and your life will record it.

Be aware, be thankful and look for the God moments in your life. Because God moments can change your life in just seconds.

Tomorrow we’ll return with our regularly scheduled posts having to do with the topic of driving traffic that converts into sales.

Until then,

Dave Krygier

Best Content Creation Strategy

Frustrated about how to create decent content for your website, blogs, social media sites and video channels? Have you been searching for the best content creation strategy and come up empty handed or with less money in your bank account and not much to show for it?

In my previous article about Content Creation I briefly mentioned the content blueprint. Today I’m going to clear the air and hopefully help you out of the muck and mire of content creation. This way you can work on your business, attract more qualified people and get more sleep at night.

Why am I hammering on this topic of a content blueprint and outline?

Because your best content creation strategy begins with a blueprint and outline. (Yes – I know I’ve covered this before in other articles)

It seems that more and more I get approached by companies that claim to be able to produce content and especially articles for blogs and social media. Yet no one has ever approached me with a content outline and best practices strategy.

I’ve been writing here on Clickandmortarblog.com since 2010 and the list of individuals and companies that have contacted us to provide content is longer than ever. Yet rare is the company that crosses my doorstep with a quality book of content that says – we get it!

The best content creation strategy means you have to come to grips with you are either able to create good quality content, direct someone else in house to do it, or have the ability to pay a team of writers and producers to get the work done. 

Anyway you look at it someone needs to create the content. You, your partner, your employees, your kids, or an outside professional.

I dealt with this with a client who struggled over a number of years to create quality content within their organization and was not using the best content creation strategy but jsut the opposite. It was an internal battle that they fought and eventually lost due no one on staff who had the ability to create and pull all of the content together.

They tried and tried and tried but in the end (or new beginning) it just wasn’t coming together the way they wanted it to and hence they wasted alot of time and lost revenues plus who knows how much money.

        The Best Content Creation Strategy for Your Small Business

It’s one thing to write a few articles and post them on your blog or website. It’s entirely another to research, interview, write, record, edit, and then publish content on a weekly basis.

When it comes to the best content creation strategy you must have a content outline or blueprint to work from and have a constant source of fresh content to pull from. Otherwise you’ll spin your wheels looking at the walls and windows of your office searching for things to say, write and record.  See where I’m going with this.

Once you have these two items, then you’ll need to make sure that you use the following Three Important Keys to Unlock the Rooms or Building of Buyers:

1. Relevent Content is what your prospects and customers want.  Content that has everything to do with your product, service or information and can help them solve their problem or answer a question. So keep your content relevent and not off in the woods attracting all kinds of bugs.

2. Quality Content is the second key that you need. This is one pet peave that I have when it comes to creating content for the web. It’s got to be quality or just don’t bother posting it, otherwise the key won’t work.

3. Original Content is the third key that you need when it comes to attracting people. It’s bad enough that there are copy cats all over the web. Be original. Be real and be interesting.

Once you use and implement a three keys with a content blueprint as your guide, then your content has to be optimized, posted, distributed and archived. Yes, you read that right – ARCHIVED. In other words you need to have a log and store your content in a readily accessible digital storage system.

Because the day will come when you need to access it due to a new piece of content being produced or you need to repurpose it for some other project online or offline.

Creating relevant, quality and original content is not as difficult as many make it but it does make for the best content creation strategy. It just comes down to a content blueprint and outline that covers all the information that you would share with your target audience.

So get together with your business partner, spouse, staff or content creation company and have a series of content brainstorming sessions. It’ll make your life easier and your content will get created, and posted sooner than later.  Thus the best content creation strategy will come together and your business should start to see people who want to work with you.

Until next time,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

Click and Mortar Marketing – 5th Anniversary Post by Clickandmortarblog

Hard to believe it’s been five years since we started this click and mortar marketing site called clickandmortarblog.com. What’s even crazier is that the amount of content pertaining to click and mortar marketing and small business that’s come through here is so much more than I originally anticipated.

As of this day we have written all but several posts in house and this was due to myself being unsure about how I was going to write, edit and do it all.

Click and Mortar Marketing by Clickandmortarblog.com
Since 2010 – Click and Mortar Blog has been delivering marketing tips, tactics and information for the small business owner and marketer looking to expand on the web…

When we first started in February of 2010 I had Jeff Stuhlmiller contribute a few articles. He was kind enough to lend a hand but since then all the rest of the original posts for clickandmortarblog.com have come directly from the publisher.

Why do I share this on the eve of our 5th Anniversary? Because in this day and age of copycats and laziness, many an online marketer may take the easy road to stealing other people’s content.

Especially if he or she is working in click and mortar marketing and doesn’t understand how to create totally original content.

There are some really good to great content creators out there on the market today who work their “you know whats off” each and every day to provide businesses and organizations like yours, original videos, audios, articles, photos and graphics for clients around the world. They put their hearts into creating content that means something and is valuable to them and their clients.

Then some lazy, unethical person comes along and decides the he or she is going to scrape their website for new content that can be used for their own website or video. And do they ask for permission? Not! They copy, paste and go along their merry way. 🙁

When it comes to click and mortar marketing I know from years of experience that this happens all the time. Retail business owner A hires Writer A to write 5 blog posts for her website and social media channels.

Writer A then takes her time and the business owners money doing this, and scans the web, copying and pasting content into a word doc. Then she spends a little time rearranging the content so it looks like it’s original when it’s really not!

This is only one scenario of many that can play out for the small business owner who wants to create good to great quality original content online, but just doesn’t know. 

Click and Mortar Marketing for the Small Business Owner 

For a retail or service based business owner who is looking to really kick it up a notch with click and mortar marketing – always find credible/reliable sources for creating online content. That includes your photography, graphics, videos, audios and especially the words that support these. 

Interview more than three people and pick the ones that understand your business and will deliver the goods on time and on budget. If you need some help with this – connect with SBM.

Your click and mortar marketing is pulling two worlds together where your buyers coexist, and thus the content needs to work together to achieve the results that you are after. You get there by using quality original content, which is the best way to go when it comes to connecting with your small business’ target market.

And if your business is utilizing click and mortar marketing you must be testing every step of the way to see what is working and what is not. That way you maximize your ROI.

Next time I’ll dig into the content strategy, so stay tuned.

Dave Krygier
Publisher
ClickandMortarblog.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Permission Based Marketing – Are You In or Out?

Permission based marketing is more than just asking someone permission to send them stuff or call them whenever you feel like it. Permission based marketing, or what some refer to as opt-in marketing, is the way that we get through all the clutter and noise to our target market. It’s the simple process of asking, communicating and then delivering on what we promised. And if you really want to make an impact you need to over deliver and add value whenever and wherever you possibly can.

Permission Based Marketing by Clickandmortarblog.com
Did you get permission or did you add your latest prospect to your email list and then hit SEND?

During a connection/outreach campaign for a client I had one of the most interesting things happen to me. I was sending a regular personalized email message to a very small group of people who made up the advisory board for my client.

What happened next was quite the shocker as I received a promotional email from one of the receipients of my message. This was kind of odd considering the fact that the individual didn’t even subscribe to my client’s advisory board list, but instead subscribed me to their email auto-responder!

This is just not right and needless to say got my attention. Not only does this tarnish their reputation, but this is a no no and goes against email best practices. It not only got me a little upset but it cost the credibility and future of working with this other company.

You know it’s one thing if you receive a message from someone and don’t want to opt-in to their list or the recommended list, but to take that person’s email and put it into another email auto-responder by hand is asking for trouble. Further more, if you are still manually entering your prospects email, it’s probably time you made a simple change and have them OPT-IN!

Like I mentioned earlier, Permission Based Marketing is more than just asking someone if you can send and/or contact them whenever you feel like it. No matter if you are utilizing email, direct mail or direct sales methods, it’s like this…

Think as the consumer. Consumers don’t want more junk mail and email. They want what interests them, not what interests you.

Here’s an example:

If you and your family really enjoy water sports and boating then you probably enjoy reading and researching topics and areas of interest pertaining to this sport. So you are more than open to receive and review information as long as it is relevant to your interests.

As soon as this information hits the fringe or goes beyond your water sports and boating, then you start to put up barriers and will stop being open to receiving and reviewing information.

It’s kind of like when you receive a boating magazine that is totally dialed into what your interest is. But then some other publisher rents the list and starts sending you magazine info about fishing and hunting. Fishing is a distant cousin to your boating world and maybe you have interest but it’s really a shot in the dark. Hunting isn’t even on your charts and gets tossed in the round filing cabinet.

A Permission Based Marketing Campaign

What needs to happen is a permission based marketing campaign that says, “Hey, are you interested in information about other topics related to water sports and boating? And would you like to be informed about these topics?” If so, consider getting in touch with the Team at SBM and they’ll make it happen!

Pretty simple concept, yet so many businesses and organizations miss this and just roll on with the old, antiquated attitude of ‘we’re getting the industry standard response’ (which is usually only a couple of percentage points), so why change?

Well, I’m here to say to you today…

That’s a bunch of hogwash and you can do better if you use permission based marketing.

Ask your prospects and customers what they want to learn, know and have interest in. Get to know your prospects, subscribers and clients. Then deliver the best, most targeted information to them. Plus always ask their permission before you add on or increase the volume of information.

Permission Based Marketing – your way to developing a loyal group of subscribers, clients or customers.

Make ee sense my loyal reader?

I sure hope so. If not, let me know and we can discuss it further.

To your success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher
Clickandmortarblog.com

 PS – This article, as is every article here on Clickandmortarblog.com, is Copyrighted by the publisher as listed above and you DO NOT have permission to copy or disassemble this article without express permission from the publisher. 

 

Three Things You Need to Know About Content Marketing Online for Small Business

For years and years I worked in a small business that relied on organic search traffic to drive people to our email, phones and physical locations. Organic search was our only online marketing activity for the better part of 4 years and then we added a few directories like Qwest and GTE Superpages. Content marketing online wasn’t even something we considered but it turns out that we were doing it without knowing what great results would come down the road.

We loaded up content week after week and month after month. It was tedious work, but we had a good webmaster and I fed him alot of information, pictures and graphics. 

At our peak we had over 250 pages of content and this made the difference when our buyers were searching for items that we offered. We dominated certain categories and it was all based on the content that we had on our website.

The thing is in today’s online environment you have sooo many options when it comes to marketing. From directories and pay-per-click ads to Local search and the magic bullet website. The list is so long that your head spins and wallet can get empty really fast.

Small business is tough enough as it is and online marketing can make it even tougher, especially when your phone is ringing every day with people who want your money and magic bullets by the dozen.

You’ve heard it all just like I have.

content marketing online
“Target Market with Content Marketing Online”

And this is why content marketing online could be what separates you from your competition. Plus you can target market much better and increase sales, which could make for a more profitable month or year!

Here are Three Things that You Need to Know about Content Marketing Online for Small Business:

  1. It pays to have a Content Blueprint just like you have a business and/or marketing plan. No blueprint – lots of confusion and headaches. A clear, well put together blueprint is like a good roadmap that leads you to your destination.
  1. Quality Content Creation can be easy or it can be really hard. Easy is better and sometimes this needs to be handled by someone other than yourself. Either way you want to make sure that there’s quality in what you create. Content, Content, Content. Quality original content that connects you with your buying market online.
  1. Good Content Distribution can make the difference of sales or no sales. The better the distribution of your content to your target audience, the more buyers will be attracted to you. Not rocket science. Be where your target market hangs out.

So if you are tired of spinning your wheels with ads and marketing that doesn’t seem to convert into sales…

Test content marketing online this next year and make sure to work from a blueprint.

Make sense? Good – get to work and create quality original content.

Doesn’t make sense? Need some help with some or all of it? Check out Techsmith and contact the peeps over at SBM and let ‘em know that the ClickandMortarblog.com publisher sent you. They’ll take care of your content marketing woes in a jiffy.

So now it’s time to get busy and put all of this content stuff together so you can see the benefits in your small business. 

Stay in touch and be sure to stay tuned for more on this hot topic of content marketing online.

Dave Krygier
Publisher

 PS – Keep us posted so we know how your content marketing online is coming together.

This is a Test – Only a Test – of Your Direct Response Marketing Strategy

If you woke up tomorrow and your accountant or office manager advised you that all you had left in your advertising budget for the rest of the year was $5000, how would you react and what actions would you take?

Oh, and one more thing…

The advertising has to produce sales results otherwise your business will go under.

Bummer  ☹

This scenario above is one that many a small business owner could learn from and possibly save his or her small company. You see many small business owners still believe in the old adage that you have to advertise in order to keep the people coming to their businesses, yet they don’t have a clue if any of it really works.

And they have trusted their hard earned money to certain media outlets that say it’s working, yet can’t prove that the advertising is bringing in people who are purchasing or buying products and/or services.

So again the question arises – if all you had was $5000 for the remainder of the year, would you buy media (offline or online) that simply flashed your company name and fancy photos on the screen, channel or paper or would you buy media or create content that would bring in sales?

Oh, and one more thing I didn’t mention earlier… You need good creative to attract your target market. This is where direct response marketing comes in to play.Direct Response Marketing Strategy

Yes my friend, a direct response marketing strategy could be what saves your bacon. The thing is your creative needs to be response oriented and have tracking and capture mechanisms attached so the person footing the bill can see actual results. Actual results means traffic and then you need to convert the traffic (prospect) into a new customer or client.                                              

Direct Response Marketing Strategy 

So the Direct Response Marketing Funnel & Process looks something like this…

  1. Create Good to Great Creative (words, pictures, music, voice) that is designed to attract your target audience.

  2. Find and Test Media or Content (most likely online) that your target audience is involved in.
  3. Send Your Target Audience to a page, phone or place that they can interact with you so you can share your offer.
  4. Present Your Offer and Make a New Sale, Create a New Subscriber (because you captured his or her name and info), or Created a New Interested Prospect that now knows who you are and what you do.
  5. Follow-Up with Your New Customers and Subscribers to create more sales and referrals. Utilize email software to do the heavy lifting.

Now doesn’t this direct response marketing strategy look like a better plan versus throwing your $5000 budget up on the mass media wall with little or no chance of bringing in any new business?

Remember – you only have the $5000 and it has to last you for six months. The question is will you test, make sales or throw mud up on the wall and watch it dry and flake off?

Will you create a direct response marketing strategy?

Only time will tell and in six months we’ll see if there’s a small business with your name on it in the small biz obituaries or if your sign is still lit and the phone and email are still connected.

To your direct response marketing success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher 

PS – I really meant it when I said utilize email software to do the heavy lifting, and believe me when I say you can use the software for your offline marketing too…

The Case for Print & Paper and Attraction – How to Combine Offline with Online Marketing

With the onslaught of technological changes it seems that more and more companies are vearing away from print and paper marketing, yet there is s segment of the business populace that still desires to know how to combine offline with online marketing.

Last summer I stopped by a higher end lake side resort to investigate and find out more about the place and what it has to offer. As I approached the front desk there was not a shread of paper in sight. So I asked the front desk guy about the resort and he just redirected me to their website.

How to combine offline and online marketing by ClickandMortarblog.com
Attract more customers to your resort by combining offline print materials with online marketing.

But I wanted more.

I wanted something tangible to take with me. Anything would do.

But all I left, disappointed, with only access to their online website.

The bottom line here is that the resort could have captured me several ways seeing that at the time I was a very warm prospect. And had they used printed marketing materials and combined them with online web properties just think of all the possibilities!

How could they combine their offline with their online marketing?

Number One: Had they trained their front desk people to just for my information they could add me into their database manually and then follow up later.

Number Two: They could easily ask for my phone number and have the sales office contact me.

Number Three: They could easily have had a classy, quality, simple brochure with a picture, attraction oriented copy, and contact info.

Number Four: They could provide an oversized contact card with QR code and shortened URL that provide the gateway to the web.

Number Five: They could have a POP sign with the Attraction oriented copy, QR code and shortened URL.

Any one or all of these methods would work for this resort and many a business I run into these days.

It seems that some businesses, like the above mentioned resort have gotten it into their heads that the web is the only way to market their business. They seem to think that since they are so booked up and that their $300 per night rates during peak season can mean that they can forego paper and print altogether. 

Yes, the web is growing faster than ever before, but we are not at the point where we can totally get rid of POP and POS based printed marketing materials. Especially when it comes to live on-location interaction with human beings.

What we need to do as small business owners and managers is to attract and connect with our target market on a continual basis. And do so in ways that the people we desire to bring into our world will desire to connect with us due to the materails we provide and manner in which we conduct ourselves.

We as a society still utilize paper. Now I’m not saying that we should step back and intitiate paper and print campaigns. I’m just conveying that for the time being printed marketing materials still have a place in certain businesses and organizations.

The question is this…

Are you involved in one of those organizations and have you been missing opportunities to grow your business? If so, reconsider and learn how to combine offline with online marketing by testing with printed marketing materials. This way you can attract more customers and keep your business moving forward.

Until next time,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

PS – Need help with figuring out how to combine offline with online marketing? SBM may have a solution, or two or three…

How to Increase Traffic to My Retail Business…

Have you been asking yourself how do I increase traffic to my retail business? Or how do I increase traffic to my business so I can increase sales and keep the doors open?

The question comes up frequently and it doesn’t usually come from the owner who is seeing double digit increases in sales. It’s usually coming from the small business owner who is laying awake at 2am asking herself, “how do I increase traffic to my retail business and keep it affordable?”

I recently ran into a business owner who obviously needed help but was not going to let anyone from the outside step into his world.

It always amazes me when I run into a small business owner who has been at it for years, and they say the want to increase traffic to their retail business, yet they can’t market themselves out of their own backyard let alone front yard! Yet he or she continues on down the path of struggling and fighting to keep the doors open.

In this particular case the owners were all over the map and spending money that wasn’t necessary and real a drain on their finances.

Increase Traffic to Your Retail Business

So if you are you looking to increase traffic to your retail business then the #1 Thing you must do is look at all the marketing angles. If this is a challenge, then hire a professional to help you look at all the angles. This way you can identify the ones that really work, and those that need to be left behind or fine tuned to help increase traffic.

In today’s web environment you have to look at the entire picture. Maybe you have a large customer database but are not engaging people with mobile or email?   Why? Is it frustration? Confusion? Or simply a lack of knowledge and the ability to connect the dots and make the technology work in your favor.

Increase Retail Traffic with Web-Oriented Tools

If you are like so many retailers these days, the web is one big headache. Constant changes. Constant issues. Constant needs for updates, etc… And on and on the list goes.

The thing is, web-oriented tools can help to increase your retail traffic if you are using and testing with the right tools.

Tools like the QR code, URL Shortners and Short Videos can help you Track, Generate and Increase Traffic to Your Retail Business.

People are also using mobile more and more, so if your business is not mobilized (on and for the web), chances are you’re just hurting yourself and the bottom line of your business. So get busy and get mobile pronto!

Ultimately you need to attract and engage with people (your target audience for your retail business) on the web when they search and research by typing or speaking the keywords for your type of retail business. This will then lead to more traffic to your web properties, phones, emails and physical locations.

And if you want to know how I increased traffic to my retail business, Visit Secrets of The Tiny Store to find out more.

To your traffic driving success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

PS – BTW – increasing traffic to your retail business is much easier today with all of the online tools and content creation available, so make sure to review and evaluate all of your resources.

The Business Owner that Could Have…Restaurant Tales Part 1

Many times over the past 28 years I have seen small business owners who have been so strong willed and independent that they continually struggle within their business only to create one big mess after another. And thus they leave a trail behind them and accumulation of misfires, mishaps, losses and frustration.

Frustrated Chef Image on Click and Mortar Blog
I am a Frustrated Chef posing as a Restaurant Owner…

Here’s a comment from the diary of one that has lived in the small business trenches for almost three decades… “While you serveth thy client bewareth of the cobwebs, spiders, rusty nails and cracked beams in the basement of marketing that may cometh back to make your work that much more difficult and frustrating ,” – as quoted by The Small Biz Mechanic.

Ok – enough of the commentary, let’s be honest and look at the basics:

1. Some owners are great at sales.

2. Others are great at operations.

3. Some owners are great at finance.

4. While others are great at customer service.

5. Some are even great at marketing, although this seems to be a rarity, especially in this current time of transition to the web.

So with that said – Let us Face the Facts right now!

You are not great at everything. It’s a simple fact and you need to face it and acknowledge it. Pure and simple. Plus once you peal back the layers and come to the realization that you’re not ‘super business man’ or ‘super business woman’, maybe you’ll have an honest sit down with your partner, spouse and/or staff and come to grips with these facts. If you don’t, then you’ll find yourself burning out and becoming less motivated to stay engaged in your enterprise.

Being in small business is tough enough these days without being your own worst enemy. How do I know this? Because I’ve battled it for many years and I see it in many of the privately owned small restaurants that take my money in exchange for good to great food and mediocre service.

I mean how tough can it be for a small café or bistro to put out great food and great service? Well it’s obviously a real challenge for many a small business owner because the Food Network has multiple shows running that are thriving on the mishaps and negligence going on in restaurant land.

I for one experience the ups and downs of these mom and pop café shops as I travel throughout the US and Canada, and it’s amazing to see how an owner and sometimes even a manager can be absent and no where to be seen during the lunch hour.

Great food will go a long way because word of mouth will bring people out of the woodwork, but if service is lackluster then the same word of mouth can put a damper on sales like a rainstorm at an outdoor wedding.

The bottom line…

Whether you own or manage a restaurant or some other kind of small business, work in your strength areas and leave the rest of it to other people who are good to great at the rest. And surround yourself with great people who are great at what they do.

Until next time,

Dave Krygier
Publisher

How Do I Increase My Sales – Offline to Online Anniversary Post

How do I increase my sales but lower my advertising costs the small business owner asks the man sitting across the table. The man simply states that in order to increase his sales the small business owner needs to change the way he thinks.

Well this is much easier said than done for most business owners and managers as they are shuffling their way through daily grind of small business.

Clickandmortarblog.com Offline to Online Marketing Anniversary Post
Have you been thinking inside the box too much lately?

When I first started to write on this blog in February of 2010 I was in search of ways to help offline small businesses get online and develop ways to attract, capture and convert prospects into customers utilizing online resources.

It was quite the search and ultimately I put together the pieces to be able to provide small business owners ways to connect their offline marketing with the online world and visa versa.

Why would a small business owner continue to struggle and pay countless thousands of dollars per month and year only to find that the marketing and advertising is not working?

Fear of loss of business? Not knowing other ways to create new business?

A little of both? Probably.

In a recent conversation with a business owner he mentioned that his agency didn’t know the difference between marketing and advertising. I mean this came as quite a shock considering the thousands of dollars this man had invested with this advertising company.

The confusion that is spread across the land of small business is so vast that it amazes me that most small business owners are able to make a profit.

So where does this lead us today when we broach the topic of Offline to Online Marketing? How does a small business owner with a limited budget and resources really do both?

This is the question we must face and answer plus we need to ask these Five Tough Questions:

  1. Is the Offline Marketing and/or Advertising really working and has it been tested?
  2. Is the Online Marketing and/or Advertising working and has it been tested?
  3. Is there a mix of both that has tested and proven to bring in new business?
  4. Is the Marketing and/or Advertising showing ROI?
  5. Is there marketing in place to connect and keep current customers in your world?

It still surprises me as to the number of small business owners who don’t test their advertising. Yet they continue to spend and spend and spend, even when they don’t really know if it’s working!

The Online World has Changed

In the past four years the online world has changed dramatically with the uprising of local, social and mobile channels.

Local Search Optimization and Marketing has had a big impact on small businesses that rely on the local community for traffic and sales. From maps listings to directories to reviews and more. It’s an ever-changing landscape that can be red one day and then green the next.

Social Media Channels such as Facebook, Pinterest and Linked In are impacting small business in ways not even on the radar back in 2000. Mobile Technology and Search has been the biggest shift that I have seen since 2009.

More and more business people and consumers are using mobile web enabled devices and replacing their traditional desktop and laptop computers.

It’s like the wild, wild, west when it comes to mobile and the changes coming so frequently that it’s virtually impossible to keep up unless you are plugged and tuned in daily.  So the next time someone asks you or you ask someone else, how do I increase my sales but lower my advertising costs, know that there is hope right around the corner. There is hope and our friends at Small Biz Mechanix are paving the way to help small businesses connect the offline to the online world.

Stay close and stay tuned as there are plenty of updates on the way.

To your small business success,

Dave Krygier
Publisher