ActionBites: April 2011

You’ve heard all the chatter about the internet and how it is the place to be for business to grow and develop new business using websites and social media marketing.

Have you ever wondered how you can get new business using online tools to promote your business?

It can seem daunting. Websites, SEO, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, on and on it goes. Maybe you have a website that doesn’t seem to do anything ... and you don’t know how to tell if it is doing anything useful or not.

You’re not alone. Many businesses have thought about using the internet and have a basic website that may have cost a little money or a lot of money at the time, but it is still a bit of a mystery as to whether it serves any purpose or not.

“You have to be online” they tell you, but don’t tell you why, or how to judge a good website performance from a bad one.

“My website is on page 1 on Google ... for my business name!” Oh that’s a common one. The truth? You need to be on page 1 for what you do. Not for your name. Nice to have but it is a given. Your name doesn’t count, since anyone who knows your business name and what you do, already knows how to find you. You want your business to be found by those looking for what you do, who don’t automatically think of you.

“I have a Twitter account ... but I never use it.”

“I am on Facebook but I don’t really know how to use it. I’ll have to get my teenager to look into it and fix it for my business.”

Social media marketing may be social... but it is still business. And as such it deserves to be taken seriously. As a business owner you need to understand the rules of how online marketing for local business works. Even if you decide it is not for you.

· How to guage if your website is working as well as it should. Sometimes it just needs a few tweaks to make it work better. Sometimes it needs a lot of work. Know what to look for when you are hiring web designers and what to make sure is included on your site.

· What you need to do to have any chance to get the website to page 1 on Google for the words and phrases people look for to find what you do.

· How to set up a social media marketing strategy. It is not just opening an account. You need to know the right kind of account. Know which platform is going to work for your business and have a purpose and a strategy that will allow you to know how and what content to add to keep it fresh.

· Understand that your reputation is at risk online – even if you don’t use the internet yourself. Your duty to your business means you need to be able to know how to manage that risk – and exploit your business opportunity. If someone is talking about you online - good or bad - you need to know about it. And know how to deal with it.

· Learn the difference between traditional marketing (broadcasting) and social media marketing. They are not the same! What works in old media, won’t work in new media and can work against you.

I hear many business owners say that they have been to a workshop on social media but they were dissatisfied because it didn’t really give them the skills they need to know how to go about setting their business online with a way to successfully use social media for their business and in their local area. You need one-on-one help to really get to know this new world.

Others say they can’t see why they need to be on the internet because their customers are local and they know who they are already. In reality, it isn’t about what you want. It is about what customers expect. Even if you never use the internet (“I don’t have time!”) your customers do. And if they are looking for your business at 2am then they need and want to be able to find the solution they need for their particular problem. If you can solve it for them, you want them to find you and know that you can help them.

The world has opened wide for local business and social media marketing brings high tech opportunities for local business to widen the scope of their marketplace beyond their front door and being at the mercy of just selling to the people who happen to walk past their door during the hours they are open. Even a cafe can bring people in who would not normally have chosen that place to visit were it not for finding them online first.

As customers we don’t know anything about your business unless you make it known. If we are visiting your street, we look for what’s there online before we make appointments and before we head out in the car to look for what we will buy. Whether you own a cafe or are an Accountant or Zookeeper, the same applies. Your job is to make sure we find you first.

Unfortunately some business owners think they can do this without any training. While many ‘social media gurus’ have no online footprint of their own to speak of, might be doing workshops promoting social media marketing but are only telling part of the story. They are setting up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts as though that in itself is the important part. It is like buying a car and never having a licence to drive it, and not knowing it needs fuel in the tank if you want it to get you anywhere.

Special Offer

For this reason I’m making a very special offer available so you can get some idea of where you are now and where social media marketing and your online presence can help you grow your business. This Online Business Review will be available for a single payment of $199.

If you want to proceed on your own then, you can do so with some understanding of where you are going and steps you can take to get there. If you want help going forward then that’s available too.

If you would like to get your business online working and would like a review of your online presence, a report on what could be fixed and a 2 hour consultation on where you can go from here then contact me today to arrange your Online Business Review.

Here’s to your success – Online and Offline!